Andreas Kontoleon

Estimating spatial interactions in deforestation decisions

Ongoing decreases in the stock of tropical forest have long been a major concern, due to their implications for biodiversity loss and provision of ecosystem services. Ecological research also provides evidence that even if the stock is held constant, the spatial pattern of forest affects the level of services generated (McCoy and Mushinsky 1994; Twedt and Loesch 1999; Diaz et al. 2000; Parkhurst et al. 2002; Coops et al. 2004; Scull and Harman 2004). A highly fragmented forest made up of small patches may not provide the minimum habitat size that some organisms require. Thus it may offer less protection for species than the same amount of unfragmented forest. It is then important to understand the effects of human activities that fragment standing forest and, as a result, alter the size, the shape, and also the spatial arrangement of habitat. These properties of habitat affect extinction rates of local populations. Standard economic models of rural land use (e.g. agriculture/forest frontiers) will generate predictions of spatial pattern down to the level of detail that their data permit. However, a focus on spatial pattern highlights a question these models do not address: are there spatial dynamics per se? If we look behind observed spatial correlation, do one’s landuse choices actually have any causal impacts upon those made by one’s neighbours? This chapter presents a model of such spatial interactions and then discusses a method to empirically test for their presence using observed deforestation behaviour. Their existence has implications for the stock of forest, its pattern and the effect of policies on forests.

Conflicts in wildlife conservation: aggregating total economic values

Over at least the past 50 years economists have been arguing that identifying, assessing and then appropriating the maximum possible values for biodiversity is imperative for designing and implementing any biodiversity conserving wildlife strategy or policy (e.g. Krutilla 1967). It would be safe to say that the economist’s position has been sold and is by now almost universally acknowledged (e.g. OECD 2002). A central concept in this reasoning is that of Total Economic Value (Pearce and Turner 1990). The concept was been developed to encompass the plurality of values that individuals may hold for environmental resources. In the case of wildlife, these span from consumptive uses values (e.g. wildlife products), non-consumptive use values (e.g. recreation) and non-use values. Use values (either consumptive or non consumptive) are associated with flows derived from wildlife stocks (e.g. food, ornaments, medicines, recreational experiences etc.) that directly enter the individual’s utility function. Non-use values are best seen as monetary expressions of the utility gained from knowing that certain wildlife related flows accrue to different constituencies. These beneficiaries may include other people in the present or the future as well as the species themselves. The concept of TEV has been treated as an accounting identity in which the various types of values all add up. In other words, it has been assumed that all categories of value are compatible with one another. Yet, this aggregative property of the TEV concept may not be always plausible but instead it may in fact contain inherent trade-offs or conflicts. The source of conflict among values can be traced to the fact different constituencies are driven by often conflicting motivations for wildlife conservation. For example, the expression of wildlife nonuse values by one constituency (say through donations) may be in conflict with certain consumptive uses of the species enjoyed by another (such as hunting). In other words, often the utilisation of wildlife from one constituent affects the production or utility functions of another leading in essence to forms of production and consumption externalities between these parties. That is, conflicting values may be seen as expressions of production and/or consumption externalities.

Motivating existence values: the many and varied sources of the stated WTP for endangered species

Book description: Economics, Ethics, and Environmental Policy: Contested Choices offers a comprehensive analysis of the ethical problems associated with basing environmental policy on economic analysis, and ways to overcome these problems.

Pests, pathogens and poverty: biological invasions and agricultural dependence

The problem addressed in this paper is the linkage between poverty and invasive alien species (IAS) – the introduction, establishment and spread of species outside of their original range. There are two main dimensions to the problem. One is the connection between poverty and the likelihood of the introduction, establishment or spread of invasive species. It includes the relation between poverty and strategies for the management of invasive species, investment in invasive species detection and control, and collaboration in international control measures. The second is the connection between poverty and the costs or benefits of invasions. This includes the links between invasive species, the structure of the economy, and poverty. It covers the relation between poverty and dependence on agriculture, wildlife utilisation, forestry and fisheries, and the importance of the common property.

Biodiversity Economics: Estimating spatial interactions in deforestation decisions

Ongoing decreases in the stock of tropical forest have long been a major concern, due to their implications for biodiversity loss and provision of ecosystem services. Ecological research also provides evidence that even if the stock is held constant, the spatial pattern of forest affects the level of services generated (McCoy and Mushinsky 1994; Twedt and Loesch 1999; Diaz et al. 2000; Parkhurst et al. 2002; Coops et al. 2004; Scull and Harman 2004). A highly fragmented forest made up of small patches may not provide the minimum habitat size that some organisms require. Thus it may offer less protection for species than the same amount of unfragmented forest. It is then important to understand the effects of human activities that fragment standing forest and, as a result, alter the size, the shape, and also the spatial arrangement of habitat. These properties of habitat affect extinction rates of local populations. Standard economic models of rural land use (e.g. agriculture/forest frontiers) will generate predictions of spatial pattern down to the level of detail that their data permit. However, a focus on spatial pattern highlights a question these models do not address: are there spatial dynamics per se? If we look behind observed spatial correlation, do one’s landuse choices actually have any causal impacts upon those made by one’s neighbours? This chapter presents a model of such spatial interactions and then discusses a method to empirically test for their presence using observed deforestation behaviour. Their existence has implications for the stock of forest, its pattern and the effect of policies on forests.