Using Economic and Regulatory Incentives to Restore Endangered Species: Lessons Learned from Three New Programs

Abstract:  We studied three new incentive-based programs for restoring endangered species on private lands in the United States: safe harbor, Environmental Defense's Landowner Conservation Assistance Program, and conservation banking. For each program, we gathered data on the number of participating landowners, the number of species targeted for assistance, and the cumulative acreage of enrolled land. Measured in this way, both safe harbor and the Landowner Conservation Assistance Program have been remarkably successful. Landowners are drawn to three aspects of these programs: (1) the removal of regulatory burdens associated with attracting endangered species to their property; (2) technical guidance on how to restore habitats for endangered species; and (3) cost-share assistance for habitat restoration. Technical guidance appears to be more important than either regulatory relief or financial assistance in securing the cooperation of some landowners. Assessing the success or failure of conservation banking proved more difficult, given the relatively small number of banks created to date and the lack of any centralized database on them. However, nearly half of the 47 endangered-species conservation banks we surveyed have sold credits, indicating some success in either acquiring or restoring essential habitats.     

亚洲环境执政理论与实践

发展中国家环境执政能力问题越来越引起人们的关注.在界定环境执政能力概念的基础上,分析了亚洲国家环境执政能力状况以解释这些国家面临的环境问题,并尝试分析亚洲国家环境管理从传统手段向市场手段转变的推动因素,最后提出了亚洲国家转向环境良治的扩大和加强区域、国家和地区机构网络,促进环境政策制定执行过程中权力的下放和向地方政府的转移,增加国家立法和其他政策制定机构中环境非政府组织和社区组织成员的比例,运用战略环境评价和战略环境管理理念,关注中小型企业遵守环境法规等政策、措施方面的建议.     

四川盆地一次污染过程的WRF模式参数化方案最优配置

精准的气象场是空气质量模型的基础,本文对中尺度气象模式WRF(The Weather Research and Forecasting)中微物理过程方案、陆面过程方案、行星边界层方案以及积云参数化方案进行组合,设计了24组参数化方案,对2014年5月初四川盆地内一次空气重污染过程中的气象场进行了模拟,将模拟输出的10 m风速、2 m温度、2 m相对湿度、水汽混合比廓线及位温廓线与研究区内14个气象站及1个探空站的实测数据进行对比.结果表明,Mellor-Yamada-Janjic(MYJ)边界层方案能更好的模拟出盆地内风速的变化趋势,而Yonsei University(YSU)边界层方案模拟的2 m相对湿度效果更优.第16组参数化方案(由WRF Single-Moment 3-class(WSM3)方案,热扩散(SLAB)方案、Mellor-Yamada-Janjic(MYJ)方案及Grell-Devenyi(GD)方案组合)能够较好地模拟盆地近地面风场的水平分布及风速的日变化规律,模拟的温度日变化规律更贴合实际情况,同时能够模拟出边界层内水汽混合比及位温的垂直分布特征,对边界层内逆温层和混合层的模拟也更加贴近实际,尽管该方案对2m相对湿度的模拟并不是最好,但基本能够模拟出四川盆地气象要素的变化特征,因此认为第16组参数化方案(WSM3,SLAB,MYJ及GD)适用于模拟此次重污染过程的气象场.     

Application of the Anthropogenic Allee Effect Model to Trophy Hunting as a Conservation Tool

Trophy hunting can provide economic incentives to conserve wild species, but it can also involve risk when rare species are hunted. The anthropogenic Allee effect (AAE) is a conceptual model that seeks to explain how rarity may spread the seeds of further endangerment. The AAE model has increasingly been invoked in the context of trophy hunting, increasing concerns that such hunting may undermine rather than enhance conservation efforts. We question the appropriateness of uncritically applying the AAE model to trophy hunting for 4 reasons. First, the AAE assumes an open‐access resource, which is a poor characterization of most trophy‐hunting programs and obscures the potential for state, communal, or private‐property use rights to generate positive incentives for conservation. Second, study results that show the price of hunting increases as the rarity of the animal increases are insufficient to indicate the presence of AAE. Third, AAE ignores the existence of biological and behavioral factors operating in most trophy‐hunting contexts that tend to regulate the effect of hunting. We argue that site‐specific data, rather than aggregated hunting statistics, are required to demonstrate that patterns of unsustainable exploitation can be well explained by an AAE model. Instead, we suggest that conservation managers seeking to investigate and identify constraints that limit the potential conservation role of trophy hunting, should focus on the critical governance characteristics that shape the potential conservation role of trophy hunting, such as corruption, insecure property rights, and inadequate sharing of benefits with local people. Aplicación del Modelo Antropogénico del Efecto Allee sobre la Caza de Trofeos como una Herramienta de Conservación     

Discounted knowledges: farmers» and residents» understandings of nature conservation goals and policies

Local Biodiversity Action Plans are the preferred policy mechanism for setting and delivering local biodiversity targets in the UK. This paper reviews the kind of knowledge conservation scientists envisage being used to identify and set local targets, and explores the means of incorporating local knowledge into this process. We use a case study of a Wildlife Enhancement Scheme (WES) on the Pevensey Levels, East Sussex, to reveal the understandings that local farmers and residents have of the nature conservation goals and practices associated with the scheme. Drawing on the findings of in-depth discussion groups, we show how farmers challenge both the monopoly of knowledge conservationists profess about nature, and the enlistment of farmers on the scheme as «technicians», motivated solely by financial rewards, rather than as knowledgeable experts who also have emotional attachments and ethical values for nature. Local people use their knowledge of both local farmers, and the industry in general, to challenge the assumption that farmers can be trusted with delivering nature conservation goals. In the absence of a commitment by central government to agree widely-held environmental standards, and a more democratic process of making judgements about what local nature is worth conserving, local residents challenge existing processes designed to conserve nature that are driven by the knowledge and practices of official experts alone. The findings of the study suggest that a widening of the knowledge base on which the goals and practices of nature conservation are founded, and a more deliberative process of making decisions about what nature is important locally, will secure and strengthen public support for local biodiversity action plans.1998 Academic Press     

Urban contractual agreements as an adaptive governance strategy: under what conditions do they work in multi-level cooperation?

ABSTRACT

The Norwegian urban growth agreement (UGA) is a governance platform combining transport-infrastructure development with land-use and transport policy. It is a policy package of measures involving network cooperation between national, regional and local government levels established to coordinate transport and land-use development. Shared responsibility for goal achievement, autonomy and learning and adaptation as new knowledge and experience arise are clear prerequisites for the UGAs. This makes it relevant to investigate the conditions for the UGAs to work as an adaptive governance strategy because their central features are in line with the attributes of adaptive governance. Further, adaptive governance is an approach to handle complex problems like transport development issues. The study shows that UGAs have several strengths in terms of autonomy and learning. However, the multi-level cooperation in the UGAs is framed by complex underlying structures of roles and powers, which challenge the working and legitimacy of the governance structures. Multi-level adaptive governance processes like the UGAs require attention to issues of power and legitimacy. Securing transparency and democratic anchorage is paramount in bringing such processes in line with the intended benefits of adaptive governance.     

INCENTIVE-BASED NONPOINT SOURCE POLLUTION ABATEMENT IN A REAUTHORIZED CLEAN WATER ACT1

ABSTRACT: This paper summarizes key provisions of the Clinton Administration's proposals for change in the Clean Water Act. Two of the important themes for change are tougher controls for non-point source pollution and the use of market-based instruments. A detailed analysis of market-based abatement suggests limited potential for reducing costs. The keys to nonpoint source pollution control are clearer definition of property rights combined with changes in government programs that encourage polluting activities.     

The town scheme approach to urban conservation in England and Scotland

The Town Scheme approach to urban conservation is being used increasingly as a major method of repairing historic buildings in conservation areas. A Town Scheme involves a long‐term financial and administrative partnership between the various levels of government. An annual budget made up of equal contributions from central government and the participating local authority is used to finance a multi‐year programme of repairs. Owners can apply for grants which are usually for 40 per cent of approved costs, and repair work must relate to the original structure and architectural details of an approved list of historic buildings. Town Schemes by themselves cannot totally transform the environmental quality of conservation areas, and the most successful schemes are part of wide‐ranging renewal and enhancement projects.     

A human ecological assessment of air quality management: A convergence in economic and ecological thinking?

Traditional air pollution management practices are examined using the human ecological framework adopted by Boyden and others (1981) in their study of Hong Kong—the biohistorical or biosocial approach. The subsequent analysis of current air quality management practices assesses their effectiveness in protecting the overall health of both humans and the natural environment. The uncertainties inherent in air pollution management practices which emerge highlight the need to reduce emissions rather than rely on scientific knowledge to define clean air. The assessment also clearly defines roles for research in various areas such as atmospheric models, health effects, and environmental damage. The final recommendations emphasize the need for the introduction of such incentives to reduce emissions as economic instruments and warn against using health information to define clean air. Health and environmental damage information can, however, be used in risk assessment strategies together with atmospheric dispersion models.