1 / 14

REM 363/ENV 399 - Week 14 ECONOMICS & BIODIVERSITY

REM 363/ENV 399 - Week 14 ECONOMICS & BIODIVERSITY. What is biodiversity and how much is being lost?. Biodiversity is defined by one source as: "… the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur." (U.S. OTA)

megan
Download Presentation

REM 363/ENV 399 - Week 14 ECONOMICS & BIODIVERSITY

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. REM 363/ENV 399 - Week 14 ECONOMICS & BIODIVERSITY

  2. What is biodiversity and how much is being lost? • Biodiversity is defined by one source as: "… the variety and variability among living organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur." (U.S. OTA) • Recorded biodiversity (species) loss since 1600: • vertebrates … 337 species • invertebrates … 389 species • plants … 90 species • Recent losses may be 128 (birds) to 176 (mammals) times the background rate

  3. Proximate (superficial) causes of biodiversity loss • vulnerability factors (e.g. polar bear) • habitat destruction (e.g. tall and short grass prairies of North America) • bio-invasions - refers to the introduction of an alien species to a new habitat (e.g. feral cats, rabbits in Australia). • overharvesting - rarely leads to extinction (e.g. various whale species)

  4. Underlying reasons for biodiversity loss .. • Market failure explanations (e.g. public goods, externalities, lack of property rights, trade and invasives, etc.) • Policy failure explanations (e.g. clearing and drainage for agriculture) • An example .. conservation in tropical protected areas • Also, “Human society has a choice in regard to the amount of biodiversity that will be retained along its development path, and this choice has thus far been made in a haphazard fashion” (Swanson 1995:2)

  5. Conservation Challenges in a National Park in a Tropical Country Park Protection Farming Vulnerable Species Access to natural resources Eco-tourism Livelihood Poaching

  6. Economics and which species to preserve • Initial (and narrow) view: single species valuations: • Grizzly bear …. $18.50 • Bald eagle …. $12.40 • Blue whale …. $9.30 • Bighorn sheep …. $8.60 • California sea otter $8.10 • Whooping crane …. $1.20 [Generally, these are annual willingness-to-pay per household] • Ecological economics view: focus on uncertainty! • Conventional economics view: benefits minus costs

  7. More complex views of biodiversity value • Biodiversity value and genetics • Weitzman (1992) proposed measuring biodiversity in relation to genetic distance • strategy that minimizes the loss from extinction is the one that permits one species of a closely related pair to go extinct • Another view concerns the probability of extinction and cost of improving the odds of increasing probability of survival • Noah’s ark problem (Metrick & Weitzman 1998) • combines these and previous approaches in order to select which species to preserve, given limited resources for conservation • when results are compared to real conservation expenditures, they differ significantly from what the model predicts

  8. Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) • Came into force in 1993 & ratified by 193 countries and signed by 168 (as of Nov 2010) • Funding for protected areas, national strategies, training & education programs & international co-operation • Interesting aspects: • Global Environment Facility (GEF) • Acting without ‘full knowledge’ .. “Noting also that where there is a threat of significant reduction of loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimise such a threat.” • Application of the ‘Precautionary Principle’

  9. Economic Incentives and Poaching of the One-horned Indian Rhinoceros in Nepal

  10. Rhinoceros in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park • Background on rhino in Nepal • high level of poaching for horn • significant expenditures on protection • parks-people conflicts • substantial tourism benefits • some community management now • In situ policy approaches to conserve rhino: • Enhanced patrolling and enforcement within park • Community-based wildlife (CBWM) management with household level incentives

  11. Park-people conflicts are an issue ...

  12. a) Protected areas and incentives for rhino poaching • Following Milner-Gulland and Leader-Williams (1992): π = p - Pc (f + p) - c πis the financial gain from poaching rhino p is the price from the sale of one animal Pcis the probability of capture and conviction f is the fine for a conviction of poaching c is the cost for supplies to bag one animal

  13. Empirical results for rhino in Nepal • Before intensification of anti-poaching: Rs10,000 - .05 (Rs25,000 + Rs10,000) - Rs570 = Rs7680 (US$135) • After intensification of anti-poaching and increase in fine: Rs10,000 - .15(Rs100,000 + Rs10,000) - Rs570 = Rs -15,570 (- US$273) • Incentive for poaching has reversed .. • An alternative .. community-based eco-tourism ??

More Related