Hemanath Swarna Nantha

The Orangutan-oil Palm Conflict: Economic Constraints and Opportunities for Conservation

The future of the orangutan (Pongo spp.) is far from secure despite the species’ high profile and media attention. The traditional threat to the orangutan has been widespread logging, but the continuing conversion of remaining habitat for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) cultivation is hastening its extinction in the wild. This situation is driven by a robust global market for palm oil as a vegetable oil and biofuel. In tackling this conservation problem, therefore, economic factors cannot be overlooked. This article analyses these factors and how they curtail effective orangutan conservation. Of significance are the high opportunity costs of orangutan conservation and market failures associated with the public-goods nature of the orangutan’s forest habitat. Conservationists should consider these constraints when formulating remedial action. This article assesses strategies that reduce the opportunity cost of conserving habitat (via supply-side approaches that divert oil palm cultivation away from forests) and enhance the realisable value of orangutan habitat (by capitalising on the demand for non-market values such as carbon storage). It is concluded that the former group of strategies are likely to have limited effect on curtailing deforestation, but with the right institutional policies in place they can act as stopgaps while strategies involving carbon financing and payments for biodiversity develop sufficiently to render habitat retention financially competitive.

Comparison of Funding and Demand for the Conservation of the Charismatic Koala with those for the Critically Endangered Wombat Lasiorhinus krefftii

This study contrasts the actual conservation spending and the Australian public’s demand for conservation funding for two Australian mammal species, the koala and the northern hairy-nosed wombat. It involves a survey of 204 members of the Australian public. Willingness to fund conservation action to protect the northern hairy-nosed wombat was found to be higher than that for the koala despite the koala’s immense popularity. The critically endangered status of the northern-hairy nosed wombat and the more secure conservation status of the koala is a factor likely to have influenced the comparative willingness-to-pay decisions. Actual annual conservation expenditure for both species is lower than the estimated aggregate willingness-to-pay for their conservation. Furthermore, conservation funding for the koala is much more than that for the northern hairy-nosed wombat even though the estimated public willingness-to-pay (demand) for funding koala conservation was less than for this wombat species. Reasons for this are suggested. They may also help to explain misalignment between demand for conservation funding of other species involving differences in charisma and endangerment.

Public attitudes to the use of wildlife by Aboriginal Australians: marketing of wildlife and its conservation

Indigenous Australians have socioeconomic attributes similar to those of residents in some developing countries. Their utilisation of wildlife could add to their economic opportunities. Attitudes of a sample of the Australian public towards the subsistence use of wildlife by Indigenous Australians and whether or not they should be allowed to sell wildlife and wildlife products are examined. Allowing such possibilities could provide economic incentives for nature conservation among local people. We explore whether those sampled believe that Indigenous Australians should do more than other groups and institutions to conserve Australias tropical species, and whether or not they should be allowed to take common as well as endangered wildlife species for food. Attitudes of the sampled public towards Indigenous Australians earning income from trophy hunting and from the harvesting of northern long-necked turtles for the pet trade are canvassed. The possible conservation consequences of sale of wildlife by Indigenous Australians are discussed.

Book Review: General: Reclaiming Public Ownership: Making Space for Economic Democracy

Reclaiming Public Ownership attempts to go beyond traditional leftist arguments about the relative merits of free markets and central planning to present a radical new conception of public ownership, framed around economic democracy and public participation in economic decision-making. Adam Larragy is impressed by the delicate balance this book achieves, in that it is able to articulate demands for economic democracy through collective ownership whilst also acknowledging the need to engage with the state in order to create and promote pluralistic forms of public ownership.

Book Review: General: Reclaiming Public Ownership: Making Space for Economic DemocracyReclaiming Public Ownership: Making Space for Economic Democracy by AndrewCumbers. London: Zed Books, 2012. 254 pp., £18.99, ISBN 978 1 8032 006 9

Reclaiming Public Ownership attempts to go beyond traditional leftist arguments about the relative merits of free markets and central planning to present a radical new conception of public ownership, framed around economic democracy and public participation in economic decision-making. Adam Larragy is impressed by the delicate balance this book achieves, in that it is able to articulate demands for economic democracy through collective ownership whilst also acknowledging the need to engage with the state in order to create and promote pluralistic forms of public ownership.

Reclaiming Public Ownership: Making Space for Economic Democracy by Andrew Cumbers. London: Zed Books, 2012. 254pp., £18.99, ISBN 978 1 8032 006 9

Reclaiming Public Ownership attempts to go beyond traditional leftist arguments about the relative merits of free markets and central planning to present a radical new conception of public ownership, framed around economic democracy and public participation in economic decision-making. Adam Larragy is impressed by the delicate balance this book achieves, in that it is able to articulate demands for economic democracy through collective ownership whilst also acknowledging the need to engage with the state in order to create and promote pluralistic forms of public ownership.

The Opportunity Cost of Engaging in Reduced-Impact Logging to Conserve the Orangutan: A Case Study of the Management of Deramakot Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia

Managing the forested landscape in Malaysia and Indonesia for timber extraction while also conserving the endangered orangutan that inhabit some of the remaining forests in this region is a challenge. Heavy logging is a common feature of the Indonesian and Malaysian timber industries. It is profitable but detrimental to the survival of this primate species. A type of logging which appears to be compatible with maintaining orangutans in the forested landscape is light logging. It involves extracting fewer logs and ensures that the logged area is minimally damaged. However, switching to a light logging regime involves a financial opportunity cost, a cost which is an obstacle to the widespread adoption of this type of logging by businesses and the state. This paper reviews the case study of a unique light logging experiment conducted in the Deramakot Forest Reserve, in one of the orangutan’s strongholds, the Malaysian state of Sabah. The Deramakot experiment claims to generate revenue from low-impact logging while also sustaining its population of orangutans. Here, we survey the importance of the timber industry to Sabah, the profitability of the Deramakot scheme, the orangutan conservation aspect of this scheme, and the influence of the politico-bureaucratic factor or public economics on sustaining the domestic light-logging agenda. Then, this paper attempts to answer the question of whether economic returns could be balanced with orangutan conservation given the light and heavy logging regimes, bearing in mind the opportunity costs associated with these. More specifically, using the data that has been made available from the Deramakot case study, this paper employs a mathematical model to analyse whether the foregone profits of pursuing light logging is higher than setting aside strict protected areas while more intense logging the remaining forests, subject to the goal of maintaining a desired orangutan population size. The results reveal that, under certain conditions, the option of conserving the orangutan under mainly light logging is economically more attractive for a scenario involving Sabahan forests than the option of strictly protecting orangutan habitats and heavily logging the forests without significant orangutan populations. This finding contributes to the question asked by conservationists of how forests should be partitioned to satisfy both economic and conservation needs.