Mahadev G. Bhat

Application of non-market valuation to the Florida Keys marine reserve management

The quality of the coral reefs in the Florida Keys is essential to sustain nature-based tourism in the Keys. The recently established marine reserves (MR) are expected to improve the reef environment, particularly coral and fish abundance and diversity. In this paper, a combined model of travel cost and contingent behavior was estimated in order to measure the non-market recreational benefits of reef quality improvements. The results indicated that an average visitor would undertake 43-80% more number of trips to the Florida Keys and experience a 69% increase in the use values per trip, as a result of the MR-induced reef quality improvements. The above non-market value estimates were further applied to evaluating alternative management proposals for funding the MR program. It was found that the annual management costs of the MR program would constitute an insignificant portion--only around one to 2%--of the annual recreational benefits that the MR would generate. The results provide a strong economic justification for designing user-based funding mechanisms in order to make the MR program self-sustaining in the future.

Impacts of aquaculture on the management of estuaries in India

The emergence of commercial aquaculture in estuaries along the coast of Karnataka, India, has resulted in the breakdown of traditional methods of resource management and adverse impacts on the coastal environment. Based on field survey, personal discussions and published literature, we analyzed the evolution of different market (economic), traditional, and regulatory institutions governing the use of estuarine resources in the study area over the last three decades, and identified the environmental and social impacts of this evolution. In the past, informal associations of farmers in the estuarine floodplains had managed lands for raising crops and brackish-water fish in a sustainable way. In recent years, under economic and political pressures, landowners leased their lands to commercial shrimp-producers. A rapid growth in the production of commercial shrimp, employment of unsustainable production technologies, and laxity in environmental regulation have caused negative ecological and economic impacts on communities dependent on estuarine resources. Through a recent order from the Indian Supreme Court, environmentalists and the affected communities have sought to ban commercial aquaculture in ecologically-sensitive areas. While this court order awaits implementation, several policy options are here suggested for local, state and central governments in India in order to protect the estuarine environment.

APPLICATION OF DISTRIBUTED PARAMETER CONTROL MODEL IN WILDLIFE DAMAGE MANAGEMENT

A bioeconomic model for optimal control of wildlife damage by migratory small mammal populations is developed under the framework of a nonlinear distributed parameter control problem. The model first simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of dispersal population by parabolic diffusive Volterra-Lotka partial differential equation and then optimizes a criterion function of present value combined costs of wildlife damage and harvesting. The existence of a unique optimal solution for a finite time problem is proved. An iterative procedure for numerical solution of the Optimality System with parabolic equations of opposite orientations is developed. The theoretical model is applied to a real life problem using biological and economic data for beaver populations under certain simplistic assumptions.

Controlling transboundary wildlife damage: modeling under alternative management scenarios

Abstract The migratory nature of nuisance wildlife populations creates a special management problem by imposing a negative diffusion externality on landowners undertaking control efforts. This paper reviews three cost-minimizing wildlife-control models, each internalizing the diffusion externality under different management scenarios, namely, unilateral management, bilateral management, and centralized management. The three management scenarios lead to different optimal behaviors. Property owners exerting unilateral control must leave some wildlife untrapped to generate sufficient population pressure against the flow of continual immigration from neighboring populations. Analysis of the bilateral model indicates that noncooperating neighboring landowners having varying pay-off functions will end up with leaving all wildlife untraped in their parcels. Under the centralized management scenario, landowners find it most profitable to collectively delegate the control responsibility of an entire watershed to a single manager.

Eat your orchid and have it too: a potentially new conservation formula for Chinese epiphytic medicinal orchids

About a quarter of Chinese wild orchid species are used in traditional medicine or as health food supplements. The market demand for some species, such as those in the epiphytic genus Dendrobium, has diminished many wild populations to local extinction or dangerously small numbers. Conservation of these heavily exploited orchids currently relies on a two-pronged approach: establishing nature reserves and encouraging massive commercial cultivation in artificial settings. We argue that these measures are not sufficient to restore or maintain healthy wild populations, and augmentation and reintroduction of these species in natural forests are needed. We argue for an unconventional reintroduction approach, in which populations planted in natural forests are allowed to be sustainably harvested (restoration-friendly cultivation). Because Dendrobium orchids are epiphytic, restoration-friendly cultivation of these species will not be at the expenses of other native plants. In addition, market premiums on wild-collected medicinal plants will generate incentives for farmers who participate in restoration-friendly cultivation to preserve natural forests. With proper policy and oversight, the restoration-friendly cultivation of medicinal Dendrobium orchids will facilitate the conservation of these threatened species, encourage protection of natural forests, and benefit marginalized rural communities. Adding this restoration-friendly cultivation into the current mix of conservation approaches has the potential to turn deeply-entrenched traditional uses of orchids from a conservation challenge to a conservation success.

On biodiversity access, intellectual property rights, and conservation

Abstract Recent international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights have called for increased mutual transfer of biodiversity and biotechnology between poor and rich countries. These agreements also call for the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) on biotechnology transferors in the receiving countries. This paper examines the biodiversity conservation implications of providing physical access and IPR protection to foreign consumers of biodiversity. An integrated model of optimal resource extinction and shared resource harvesting game is presented. The model results show that, as foreign and indigenous users compete for the same open-access resource, optimal extinction may occur as a noncooperative equilibrium under certain bioeconomic conditions. Extinction may be prevented by forging successful cooperation between consumers, initiating a joint harvesting process. Depending upon the model parameters, even under cooperation, increased patent protection and physical access either promotes the conservation of biodiversity or enhances its physical exploitation. Patent protection and resource access must, therefore, be developed carefully by biodiversity-rich countries to successfully balance their domestic conservation and socioeconomic goals.

Trade-related intellectual property rights to biological resources: Socioeconomic implications for developing countries

Abstract The Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade proposed conferring trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPS) to international firms on a variety of life forms and on biotechnology. This proposal has been denounced by developing countries. Many developing countries have relied heavily on indigenous biotechnology from several decades in the area of high-yielding seeds, bio-pesticides and fertilizers, herbal medicines and household consumables. This study analyzes the social, economic, and preservation implications of TRIPS for three types of biological resources: physically nonexhaustible resources, physically exhaustible resources under current use, and physically exhaustible potential future resources. The study concludes that each of these resources may require different degrees of intellectual property right (IPR) protection for their sustained use. Further, establishing IPR to products derived from genetic and biochemical resources is certainly necessary but not sufficient for biodiversity prospecting and the long-term survival of these resources. Along with the IPR protection, developing countries have to develop suitable institutions and policies, governing the use of their open-access biological resources, and enabling local communities to receive partial benefits of biodiversity conservation and prospecting.

Private Property Rights and Forest Preservation in Karnataka Western Ghats, India

Areca nut orchard owners have been mulching their orchards with foliage from surrounding government-owned deciduous forests at an average rate that may well deplete foliage within a decade, thereby endangering the long-term viability of the regions most profitable agricultural enterprise. A bioeconomic model of areca nut production is formulated to determine the circumstances under which privatization of forest resources in the hands of orchard owners will stem this rapid depletion. An empirical application suggests that foliage is not currently sufficiently abundant to survive privatization; however, the prospects for preservation can be increased with the imposition of a preprivatization period of regulated use.

Regional economic impacts of limited entry fishery management: an application of dynamic input output model

Economic impacts that entry regulations have within the fishery industry are well documented in the economics literature. This study looks at how fishery regulations will impact other sectors of a regional economy. By developing integrated models of fishery bioeconomics and dynamic, inter-industry economic linkages, the paper estimates sector-wise economic gains and losses over time from an entry regulation. A case study from India shows that primary fishing and processing sectors realize significant wage and profit gains after a period of transition. Sizable losses in wage and industry profits are incurred by non-fishery sectors but are smaller than the profit gains in the primary sectors. The paper makes policy recommendations on how to ease the adverse regional impacts of fishery policies.

Ecological, Economic, and Organizational Dimensions of Organic Farming in Miami-Dade County

The purpose of this research was to determine what challenges small-scale organic farmers face in choosing their particular production, marketing, and organizational strategies in Miami-Dade County. Rapid soil assessments were used on six organic farms to determine the effects of soil nutrient management in terms of pH, soil organic matter (SOM), and phosphorus (P). Potential costs of inputs were documented for each farm to determine the largest challenges facing the profitability of organic farms. A production, marketing, and organizational analysis determined how farmers shape their inter-farm competitive and cooperative relations. Preliminary findings from soil, input, labor, marketing, and organizational factors indicate that soil health varies dramatically from farm to farm, inputs and labor constitute significant costs, and marketing, production, and organizational strategies show no signs of immediate growth.