Conservation Economics

In this chapter you will learn about:

• 1. The role of economics in conservation theory and practice

• 2. Economic processes and strategies that can contribute to environmental protection and conservation

• 3. Integrated approaches to economic development and biodiversity conservation

Economic behavior is arguably the most accurate expression of national, corporate, community, and individual values. No conservation effort can long endure without intimate connection to value. And no expression of value in conservation can endure with vitality unless it finds expression in economic behavior, either through what we spend to acquire what is needed by other species, or what we do without in order that what is needed by other species is not consumed and destroyed. People give generously to conservation because they value the ends its seeks to achieve, but the very money they give comes from economic processes that degrade the biodiversity they are seeking to protect. Trauger et al., after completing a technical review for The Wildlife Society on the relationship between economic growth and wildlife conservation, noted that there exists “a fundamental conflict between economic growth and wildlife conservation” (Trauger et al. 2003:2). But what is the nature of this conflict and why does it exist?

To accomplish its ends, conservation needs money, and large amounts of it come from people who have sufficient affluence to give to charitable causes, of which they perceive conservation to be one. For example, in Canada, Yen et al. (1997) surveyed three Canadian provinces to determine the variables affecting contributions to conservation. Income had the largest effect on the probability and amount of donation. In the United States, Pergams et al. (2004) found that stock market indices, such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, gross domestic product (GDP), and personal income (PI) explained as much as 99% of annual variation in total revenue (including contributions) to four of conservation’s largest nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), the World Wildlife Fund, Sierra Club, Environmental Defense Fund, and The Nature Conservancy. These broad economic indicators also explained as much as 96% of the annual number of university conservation programs, 83% of membership in professional conservation organizations (Natural Areas Association, Society for Conservation Biology), and 93% of national park visitation. Commenting on these extraordinarily high correlations between economic growth and conservation funding, these investigators noted, “The conservation activity parameters we measured may exhibit positive trends even in the face of declining biodiversity, but biodiversity conservation will ultimately require the cessation of economic growth. The challenge to the conservation biology community is to retain a significant presence during and after the cessation of growth” (Pergams et al. 2004:1617).