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Optimal conservation investment for a biodiversity‐rich agricultural landscape *
Author(s) -
White Ben,
Sadler Rohan
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
australian journal of agricultural and resource economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.683
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-8489
pISSN - 1364-985X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8489.2011.00567.x
Subject(s) - biodiversity , biodiversity hotspot , biodiversity conservation , agriculture , environmental resource management , geography , conservation plan , natural resource economics , business , agroforestry , economics , ecology , environmental science , biology , archaeology , habitat
This study develops a theoretical and empirical framework for optimal conservation planning using satellite land cover data and economic data from a farm survey. A case study is presented for a region within the South‐west Australia Biodiversity Hotspot ( Nature 403, 853). This Biodiversity Hotspot is a focus for conservation investment as it combines a relatively high level of biodiversity with severe threat to the biodiversity from agriculture. The conservation planning model developed determines the optimal set of bush fragments for conservation. This model can also be used to assess the trade‐off between the budget and a vegetation species metric. Results from the case study show that, without an effective conservation scheme that at least fences fragments, significant plant biodiversity losses will occur in the North East Wheatbelt Regional Organisation of Councils region of the WA wheatbelt over a 10‐year period. A perfect price discriminating auction scheme could reduce the costs of conservation by around 17 per cent relative to a fixed‐payment scheme; however, a fixed payment on outcome (measured as change in the species metric) scheme represents a viable second‐best alternative, to a conservation auction, where conservation spending is spatially targeted.