Inequitable Gains and Losses from Conservation in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot

Philip J Platts; Marije Schaafsma; R Kerry Turner; Neil D Burgess; Brendan Fisher; Boniface P.  Mbilinyi; Pantaleo K. T. Munishi; Taylor H.  Ricketts; Ruth D Swetnam; Antje Ahrends; Biniam B.  Ashagre; Julian  Bayliss; Roy E Gereau; Jonathan M H Green; Rhys E Green; Lena  Jeha; Simon L Lewis; Robert A Marchant; Andrew Marshall; Shadrack Mwakalila; Sian Morse-Jones; Marco A. Njana; Deo D. Shirima; Simon Willcock; Andrew Balmford

doi:10.1007/s10640-023-00798-y

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Inequitable Gains and Losses from Conservation in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot

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Inequitable Gains and Losses from Conservation in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot

Philip J Platts, Marije Schaafsma, R Kerry Turner, Neil D Burgess, Brendan Fisher, Boniface P. Mbilinyi, Pantaleo K. T. Munishi, Taylor H. Ricketts, Ruth D Swetnam, Antje Ahrends, …

Environmental and Resource Economics, Vol.86, pp.381-405

2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-023-00798-y

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Abstract

Tanzania

biodiversity hotspot

distribution analysis

opportunity costs

conservation

cost-benefit analysis

A billion rural people live near tropical forests. Urban populations need them for water, energy and timber. Global society benefits from climate regulation and knowledge embodied in tropical biodiversity. Ecosystem service valuations can incentivise conservation, but determining costs and benefits across multiple stakeholders and interacting services is complex and rarely attempted. We report on a 10-year study, unprecedented in detail and scope, to determine the monetary value implications of conserving forests and woodlands in Tanzania's Eastern Arc Mountains. Across plausible ranges of carbon price, agricultural yield and discount rate, conservation delivers net global benefits (+US$8.2B present value, 20-year central estimate). Crucially, however, net outcomes diverge widely across stakeholder groups. International stakeholders gain most from conservation (+US$10.1B), while local-rural communities bear substantial net costs (-US$1.9B), with greater inequi-ties for more biologically important forests. Other Tanzanian stakeholders experience conflicting incentives: tourism, drinking water and climate regulation encourage conservation (+US$72M); logging, fuelwood and management costs encourage depletion (-US$148M). Substantial global investment in disaggregating and mitigating local costs (e.g., through boosting smallholder yields) is essential to equitably balance conservation and development objectives.

Details

Title: Inequitable Gains and Losses from Conservation in a Global Biodiversity Hotspot
Authors: Philip J Platts (Author) - University of York
Marije Schaafsma (Corresponding Author) - Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
R Kerry Turner (Author) - University of East Anglia
Neil D Burgess (Author) - World Conservation Monitoring Centre
Brendan Fisher (Author) - University of Vermont
Boniface P. Mbilinyi (Author) - Sokoine University of Agriculture
Pantaleo K. T. Munishi (Author) - Sokoine University of Agriculture
Taylor H. Ricketts (Author) - University of Vermont
Ruth D Swetnam (Author) - University of Staffordshire
Antje Ahrends (Author) - Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Biniam B. Ashagre (Author) - Anglia Ruskin University
Julian Bayliss (Author) - Oxford Brookes University
Roy E Gereau (Author) - Missouri Botanical Garden
Jonathan M H Green (Author) - University of York
Rhys E Green (Author) - University of Cambridge
Lena Jeha (Author) - Zoological Society of London
Simon L Lewis (Author) - University of Leeds
Robert A Marchant (Author) - University of York
Andrew Marshall (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research Institute
Shadrack Mwakalila (Author) - University of Dar es Salaam
Sian Morse-Jones (Author) - Collingwood Environmental Planning
Marco A. Njana (Author) - Tanzania Forest Conservation Group
Deo D. Shirima (Author) - Sokoine University of Agriculture
Simon Willcock (Author) - Bangor University
Andrew Balmford (Corresponding Author) - University of Cambridge
Publication details: Environmental and Resource Economics, Vol.86, pp.381-405
Publisher: Springer Dordrecht
Date published: 2023
DOI: 10.1007/s10640-023-00798-y
ISSN: 1573-1502; 0924-6460
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Grant note: Leverhulme Trust, F/09364/B, Royal Society; David and Lucile Packard Foundation; EAMCEF; UN-TEEB; Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Simon. L. Lewis; Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, WM160065, Andrew Balmford.
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Science, Technology and Engineering; Forest Research Institute
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99746795202621
Output Type: Journal article