Poverty and environmental degradation are deeply intertwined, particularly within fragile ecosystems where natural resources are both limited and highly sensitive to human intervention. Fragile ecosystems, such as arid regions, wetlands, mountainous terrains, and tropical forests, are characterized by their low resilience to disturbances. When communities living in these areas experience poverty, their capacity to manage and utilize resources sustainably is severely constrained, creating a cycle in which environmental degradation and impoverishment reinforce each other. Ecological economics offers a framework to understand these interconnections by emphasizing the inseparability of ecological health and human well-being, viewing natural capital as a critical component of sustainable economic systems. In fragile ecosystems, poverty often forces communities to rely heavily on natural resources for their basic needs, including food, water, fuel, and shelter. For instance, subsistence farmers in degraded soils may clear additional land to maintain agricultural output, which accelerates soil erosion and biodiversity loss. Similarly, communities in drylands may over-extract water or overgraze rangelands in attempts to survive, leading to desertification and declining agricultural productivity. From an ecological economics perspective, these practices represent the depletion of natural capital. When natural capital is degraded, the ecosystem services that communities rely upon—such as fertile soil, clean water, and climate regulation—are diminished, creating a feedback loop in which poverty is deepened and environmental degradation is exacerbated. Moreover, the economic marginalization of poor communities limits their access to technologies, education, and infrastructure that could reduce their environmental footprint. For example, in many tropical forest regions, poverty drives reliance on fuelwood for cooking and heating. The lack of affordable alternative energy sources leads to deforestation, which in turn disrupts local hydrological cycles and contributes to carbon emissions. Ecological economics highlights that such trade-offs between immediate human needs and long-term ecosystem sustainability are often a reflection of institutional and market failures. When market mechanisms fail to account for the value of ecosystem services, poor communities bear the cost of degradation while lacking incentives or support to adopt sustainable practices. Climate variability further intensifies the link between poverty and environmental degradation in