Katrina Brandon

Planning for people and parks: Design dilemmas

Abstract Integrated Conservation-Development Projects (ICDPs) attempt to link biodiversity conservation in protected areas with social and economic development in surrounding communities. The performance of ICDPs thus far has been hampered by numerous difficulties, many of which are strikingly similar to those encountered in rural development efforts. While many of these difficulties can be traced to specific design or implementation flaws, more fundamental conceptual issues pose a challenge for the approach. This paper highlights the evolution and performance of these projects thus far, and the conceptual tradeoffs inherent in linking conservation and development.

Global Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

ABSTRACT Habitat destruction has driven much of the current biodiversity extinction crisis, and it compromises the essential benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans derive from functioning ecosystems. Securing both species and ecosystem services might be accomplished with common solutions. Yet it is unknown whether these two major conservation objectives coincide broadly enough worldwide to enable global strategies for both goals to gain synergy. In this article, we assess the concordance between these two objectives, explore how the concordance varies across different regions, and examine the global potential for safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services simultaneously. We find that published global priority maps for biodiversity conservation harbor a disproportionate share of estimated terrestrial ecosystem service value (ESV). Overlap of biodiversity priorities and ESV varies among regions, and in areas that have high biodiversity priority but low ESV, specialized conservation approaches are necessary. Overall, however, our findings suggest opportunities for safeguarding both biodiversity and ecosystem services. Sensitivity analyses indicate that results are robust to known limitations of available ESV data. Capitalizing on these opportunities will require the identification of synergies at fine scales, and the development of economic and policy tools to exploit them.

Global Biodiversity Conservation and the Alleviation of Poverty

Poverty and biodiversity loss are two of the worlds dire challenges. Claims of conservations contribution to poverty alleviation, however, remain controversial. Here, we assess the flows of ecosystem services provided to people by priority habitats for terrestrial conservation, considering the global distributions of biodiversity, physical factors, and socioeconomic context. We estimate the value of these habitats to the poor, both through direct benefits and through payments for ecosystem services to those stewarding natural habitats. The global potential for biodiversity conservation to support poor communities is high: The top 25% of conservation priority areas could provide 56%–57% of benefits. The aggregate benefits are valued at three times the estimated opportunity costs and exceed

Can We Defy Nature´s End?

1 per person per day for 331 million of the worlds poorest people. Although trade-offs remain, these results show win—win synergies between conservation and poverty alleviation, indicate that effective financial mechanisms can enhance these synergies, and suggest biodiversity conservation as a fundamental component of sustainable economic development.