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Incentivos Económicos para el Manejo del Caimán de Venezuela
Author(s) -
Thorbjarnarson John,
Velasco Alvaro
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.1999.013002397.x
Subject(s) - incentive , wildlife , habitat , wildlife management , geography , wildlife conservation , business , ecology , biology , economics , microeconomics
In Venezuela, the harvest of spectacled caiman ( Caiman crocodilus ) has generated significant economic benefits for citizens and the government wildlife department. Between 1983 and 1995 more than 1 million caiman were harvested, with an export value in excess of $US 115 million. Although limited survey data restrict quantitative comparisons, most indications suggest that the harvest has been within sustainable limits. Hunting is conducted on private lands in the central Venezuelan plains where caiman populations benefit from cattle ranching management activities, particularly the construction of dry‐season water holes. For ranchers, caiman hunting produces a high return on investment, but the overall earnings are small when compared to those produced by cattle. Caiman are mostly a quick and easy source of income that complements cattle ranching, and there is little incentive to actively manage caiman populations. The only evidence that the income from caiman harvests generates economic incentives to protect caiman populations is that landowners sold the skins of caiman illegally hunted in other areas, so as not to reduce their own caiman populations and possibly diminish future hunting quotas. There is no evidence that caiman harvesting generates economic incentives to protect natural habitat, because caiman benefit from human alteration of savanna habitats associated with the much more economically important cattle ranching activities. Recent changes in how hunting quotas are assigned have reduced economic incentives for landowners to protect caiman populations, but the changes have made the quota‐setting procedure simpler. One of the greatest conservation benefits of the program has been its ability to generate operating funds for the traditionally cash‐strapped government wildlife agency through a variety of taxes and user fees. Due to a recent government restructuring, however, program proceeds will now go to the central treasury and will no longer benefit wildlife management programs.