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Economic incentives for rain forest conservation across scales
C Kremen1, J O Niles, M G Dalton
1Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. ckremen@stanford.edu
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|June 10, 2000
Summary
Conserving tropical forests is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, economic factors, like logging revenues, can outweigh conservation benefits nationally, potentially worsening deforestation.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Forestry Economics
Background:
- Tropical deforestation contributes significantly to global greenhouse gas emissions (20-30%).
- Forest conservation offers a potential mechanism for climate change mitigation.
- The economic viability of conservation hinges on opportunity costs compared to alternative land uses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the cost-effectiveness of forest conservation for climate change mitigation.
- To analyze economic trade-offs between conservation, logging, and agriculture in Madagascar.
- To explore policy mechanisms for overcoming economic barriers to tropical forest conservation.
Main Methods:
- Economic analysis of opportunity costs from local, national, and global perspectives.
- Case study utilizing data from Madagascar.
- Comparison of financial benefits across different land-use scenarios (conservation, logging, agriculture).
Main Results:
- Forest conservation yielded greater economic benefits than logging and agriculture at local and global scales.
- Nationally, industrial logging presented higher financial returns than conservation in the Madagascar case study.
- Discrepancies in economic signals across different scales can incentivize deforestation.
Conclusions:
- Differing economic incentives across scales pose a challenge to tropical forest conservation.
- The Kyoto Protocol's potential to create markets for forest protection could address these economic barriers.
- International climate policy may be essential for promoting effective forest conservation and climate change mitigation.
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