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Vol. 2, No. 6: August 23, 2007
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The Ecosystem Marketplace's Community Forum
Connecting people to ecosystem markets
Welcome to the Community Forum, a newsletter dedicated to providing information from around the world on community-based payment for ecosystem services!
In this issue of the Community Forum, we focus on the most elusive of payment for ecosystem services – biodiversity. While ecotourism and ecolabeling are both touted as means of using the market to protect biodiversity, we want to bring you some examples of more innovative and direct payment for biodiversity services programs. We profile two community-based programs from Kenya, each with a slightly different approach to using direct incentives for biodiversity conservation. We also cover two larger-scale issues: the recent attempt by Ecuador to get the world to pay for the biodiversity benefits of avoided oil extraction and, how the disappearance of bees in North American and Europe is spawning new interest by the public and policy makers on the importance of biodiversity services. In this issue we profile an agricultural extensionist from Zambia whose innovative "wildlife clubs" are keeping former poachers employed at more productive tasks. And does the financial services industry care about biodiversity conservation? Ivo Mulder gives his opinion in our Viewpoint section. Be sure to check out our Resources and Tools section where we highlight an innovative new website and two how-to manuals that are must-views for anyone involved in designing or implementing community-based payment for biodiversity services programs.
We hope you enjoy this edition of the Community Forum! If you do, please forward it on to friends and colleagues. We want to be able to share this forum with the many people around the globe who are involved or interested in community-based payments for ecosystem services.
– Elizabeth Shapiro, Community Forum
For comments or questions, please email: communityforum@ecosystemmarketplace.com
Sign up to receive the Community Forum on a regular basis
To sign up to receive the Katoomba Group newsletter on payment for ecosystem services in Tropical America please e-mail Rachel Miller.
To sign up to receive the Katoomba Group newsletter on payment for ecosystem services in East & Southern Africa, please e-mail Alice Ruhweza.
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Kenya – Kitengela-Maasai Land Lease Program Leaves Wildlife Free to Roam
The region south of the capital city of Nairobi, known as the Kitengela, was once home to the second largest population of grazing animals in Africa. Though Nairobi National Park serves as a refuge for the grazers during the dry season, it is necessary for them to migrate to the south through the Kitengela during the wet season in order to find adequate food. The land of the Kitengela was originally managed as a large, communally-held seasonal grazing area by the pastoralist Maasai, but privatization of the land in 1988, and subsequent migration of non-Maasai into the area has led to its subdivision into crop land, permanent settlements and industrialized zones. The fragmentation, fencing and degradation of these grasslands have greatly impacted the ability of the grazing animals to migrate and have increased the incidence of human-wildlife conflicts for resources such as grasslands and water. A number of community-based conservation initiatives were attempted, but the diversity of interests from within the newly formed communities and a general fear that any conservation activity would lead to the taking of land for parks greatly hindered their success. In 2000, the Friends of Nairobi National Park and The Wildlife Foundation decided to build on the commonly accepted practice of leasing grazing land and designed the Kitengela Land Lease Program. The program contracts with private landowners, who sign a Wildlife Conservation Lease, a contract stating that they will allow wildlife open access to some portion of their land. The landowners then receive three annual payments of about USD $4/ acre, which is approximately equivalent to what they would make from grazing livestock on the same land. The average household in the program makes a total of USD $400- $800. Started in 2000 with just two landowners and 214 acres, the Wildlife Conservation Lease program has expanded to include over one hundred households and 8,500 acres. The goal of the program coordinators is to shift from one year to fifteen year contracts and to eventually include the entire 60,000 acres they estimate is necessary to maintain the annual wildlife migrations to and from Nairobi National Park.
Contact: Ms.
Helen Gichohi, President of the African Wildlife Foundation
– Read a Nature Conservancy article on the Kitengela project
– Photo essay on the participatory mapping component of the Kitengela project (pdf)
Ecuador – Will the World Pay for Avoided Oil Extraction in a Biosphere Reserve?
In May of this year, the government of Ecuador used the United Nation’s Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as a platform to announce an innovative and ambitious plan -- they asked the world to compensate them for producing ecosystem services of global benefit. The Yasuni National Park and Biosphere Reserve in the Amazonian region of Ecuador contains rainforest with some of the highest levels of tree and bird diversity in the world and is home to at least 25 species recognized as threatened with extinction. It also happens to be sitting on top of an estimated 900 million barrels of oil. The government, under the leadership of the recently elected liberal president Rafael Correa, is asking the international community to pay USD $350 million per year, about half of what could be made from oil extraction, to compensate for leaving this biodiverse region untouched. The money would be used to fund social service programs for the indigenous groups that live in the region. Four major oil companies, Petrobras of Brazil, PVSA of Venezuela, Sinopec of China, and ENAP of Chile, have already been granted licenses to drill in the Ishpingo-Tiputini-Tambococha oil field, but those permits have been put on hold while the government waits to see if anyone will pay them to keep the oil in the ground. Though the Ecuadorian proposal has generated much interest by the international community, few concrete suggestions have been put forth on how the money is to be raised or who would pay. One consideration is for Ecuador to tap into the international voluntary carbon market – it has been estimated that avoided oil extraction in from Yasuni National Park would keep half a billion tons of carbon under ground and out of the atmosphere. Ecuador’s proposal has brought strong international attention to the concept of payment for ecosystem services and, more particularly, to whether payments should be made for avoided degradation of ecosystem services.
– Read an article from the dpa German Press Agency
– Read the article from the Environment News Service
Ecuador – El Mundo Pagará por no Explotar las Reservas de Petróleo de una Reserva de Biosfera?
En mayo de este año, el gobierno de Ecuador anunció un plan ambicioso e inovador en la reunión del Foro Permanente de las Naciones Unidas sobre Asuntos Indígenas. El gobierno pidió que el mundo le compense por producir servicios de ecosistemas del beneficio global. El Parque Nacional y Reserva Biosfera Yasuni de la región Amazónica de Ecuador contiene selva lluviosa con algunos de los niveles más altos de diversidad de árboles y aves del mundo y es hábitat para al menos 25 especies que están en peligro de extinción. De la casualidad que el parque está ubicado encima de una reserva aproximada de 900 millones de barriles de petróleo. El gobierno, bajo el liderazgo de un nuevo presidente liberal, Rafael Correa, está pidiendo a la comunidad internacional que pague USD $350 millones al año, más o meno la mitad de lo que se podría ganar a través de la extracción del petróleo, por no tocar en esta región llena de biodiversidad. El dinero será usado para financiar programas de servicios sociales para los grupos indígenas que viven en esta región. Cuatro compañías grandes, Petrobras de Brasil, PVSA de Venezuela, Sinopec de China, y ENAP de Chile, ya habian recebido licencias para perforar en busca de petróleo, pero el gobierno de Ecuador las han suspendido mientras que esperan ver si alguien le pagará para dejar el petróleo bajo de tierra. Aunque el propuesto de Ecuador ha generado mucho interés por parte de la comunidad internacional, pocas sugerencias concretas fueran propuestas sobre como recaudar los fondos y quien los pagarían. Tal vez Ecuador deba considerar entrar en el mercado voluntario por carbono – ha sido estimado que extracción evitada del Parque Nacional Yasuni mantendrá medio billón de toneladas de carbono bajo de tierra y fuera del atmósfera. La propuesta de Ecuador ha atraído atención internacional al concepto de pago por servicios de ecosistemas y, más particularmente, al debate sobre si el mundo debe pagar a los que evitan la degradación de servicios ambientales.
– Link a una seria de artículos de la revista Peripecias
Kenya – Sea Turtle Adoption Program Supports Local Economy
The Watamu and Malindi Marine Parks and Reserve of Kenya are important nesting and feeding grounds for endangered sea turtles. Though these parks were designated as a United Nations Biosphere Reserve in 1979, the turtles continued to face intense pressure from the local communities who use the turtle eggs and meat for food, oil for medicinal and spiritual practices, and shells for crafts. Growing coastal tourism development and marine pollution exacerbated sea turtle loss. Founded in 1997, the non-profit organization Watamu Turtle Watch (WTW) spent its first years focused on sea turtle research, conservation, and environmental education with coastal communities. The WTW soon realized that more was needed and in 2000, they began the Sea Turtle Net Release Programme, an incentive scheme to encourage fishermen to release turtles which are frequently accidentally caught in their nets. The fisherman are paid about USD $3 for the trouble of reporting each caught–and--released turtle to the WTW and to compensate for any damage to their nets. WTW credits the incentive scheme, combined with an intensive education campaign, with raising the number of turtle releases from just 16 in 1998 to 544 in 2003. Funding for the incentive program has come largely from the WTW’s Adopt-A-Turtle program. For just USD $30, the adopter is allowed to name the turtle, is given a certificate of adoption, receives updates if the turtle is later re-caught, and is sent small, locally produced crafts that help support the local economy. In the past, such pay-for-biodiversity schemes based in developing countries have been stymied by the high costs and logistical problems of money transfers, but the WTW has overcome this obstacle by using Pay Pal. The payment scheme will not continue indefinitely, according to Steve Trott, the project coordinator, who says, "Payment will be reduced as education and awareness is increased to the point where it's phased out".
Contact: Mr. Steve Trott, Director Watamu Turtle Watch project
– Watamu Turtle Watch project website
– Adopt a Sea Turtle.com
North America & Europe - Disappearing Bees Increase Awareness of Ecosystem Services
Domesticated European honey bees have been disappearing from hives throughout Europe and North America and the phenomena, known as Colony Collapse Disorder, has been making news throughout the world. The media coverage has focused global attention on the importance of the ecosystem services produced by biodiversity. Over one third of all food production from plants is either dependent on or increased by animal pollination, providing a total estimated economic value of between USD $112 and $200 billion annually. Honeybees are some of the most ubiquitous and efficient pollinators and their dwindling numbers are predicted to have a significant impact on food production. First noted in the fall of 2006, and increasingly prevalent throughout the winter of 2007, an estimated one-third of all hives in the United States have been lost. No one is sure what is causing Colony Collapse Disorder, though speculation ranges from cell phone signals to alien abduction. In response to the disappearing hives, increasing attention is being focused on the importance of wild bees and other animal pollinators, and on finding ways to increase their numbers to make up for the failing domesticated hives. Legislation to fund the protection of wild pollinator habitat near croplands was introduced this spring in both the United States and the European Union. Read the entire Ecosystem Marketplace article for more information on Colony Collapse Disorder and how scientists and policy makers are responding to this threat.
– Read the Ecosystem Marketplace article
– Read the article about Colony Collapse Disorder in Europe
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Hammer Swimwinga Takes on Issues from Poverty to Poaching One Household at a Time
The North Luangwa Conservation Project was started in 1986 by two expatriate wildlife biologists, Mark and Delia Owens, trying to stop the rampant poaching of black rhinos and elephants in the North Luangwa National Park, a wildlife sanctuary in Zambia. The non-profit organization funded an increase in the number and training of park guards, as well as community projects such as health clinics, education and agricultural loans, but poaching continued at a high rate. In 1994, Hammer Swimwinga, an agricultural extensionist from Zambia, joined the program. He quickly saw that enforcing anti-poaching laws was much less effective than improving economic prospects so that people would have no need to poach. Aside from teaching sustainable farming techniques, Swimwinga also started wildlife clubs, cooperatives giving business loans to people in the communities surrounding the park to start income generating enterprises. Initially started in just 14 villages, Swimwinga’s persistence and further funding from a British charity have allowed the clubs to expand to 56 villages. This year Swimwinga received the prestigious Goldman Prize for grassroots environmental heroes.
– Goldman Prize description and video about Swimwinga's work
– Read the New York Times article on Swimwinga
– North Luangwa Conservation Project website
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Biodiversity Conservation: The Next Challenge for the Financial Services Industry?
by Ivo Mulder
A new IUCN report highlights why the financial sector should care about biodiversity loss for economic reasons, not just environmental ones. In this summary article for the Ecosystem Marketplace, the report’s author provides a number of case study examples of how big business has been hurt by ignoring the costs of biodiversity loss or helped by investing in its conservation. He also reports on a survey of financial institutions conducted by the IUCN that found that the highest perceived risk of investing in businesses that are either dependent on or actively degrade biodiversity resources was to their reputation. These and other results detailed in the report provide valuable insights into the reasons why corporations might decide to invest in community-based payment for biodiversity services programs.
– Read the article on the Ecosystem Marketplace
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IUCN and WWF Launch New Website on Biodiversity Economics
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have launched a new website promising to make finding information, funding and people related to economic solutions to biodiversity conservation much easier. Housed on the site are a searchable library of relevant documents, a searchable database of specialists in the field, and a list of upcoming events. Perhaps best of all is a tool called "The Spider", that allows users to search for documents housed on over twenty other reputable websites with a single mouse click.
– Visit the Biodiversity Economics website
Using Economic Incentives for Biodiversity Conservation
by Lucy Emerton, IUCN
This report from the IUCN serves as a concise and well-written manual for anyone interested in designing economic incentive programs for biodiversity conservation. The manual starts with a diagnostic for determining if economic incentives programs are appropriate for the reader’s context, provides a description of the different types of economic incentive programs, discusses how to fund them, and takes the reader through the steps of designing a functional program. A complementary manual is the IUCN’s "Community-Based Incentives for Nature Conservation", which provides detailed information on how to design economic incentive programs at the community-level.
– Download Using Economic Incentives for Biodiversity Conservation
– Download Community-Based Incentives for Nature Conservation
Watershed Valuation as a Tool for Biodiversity Conservation
How much is an endangered species worth? Two of the most difficult tasks in designing payment for ecosystems services from biodiversity programs are to first convince people that biodiversity provides valuable services and, second, to put a price tag on how much those services are worth. The Nature Conservancy has taken a different approach. They have put a value on the cleaner and more plentiful water that is produced as a result of conserving the upstream ecosystems that are also habitat for the endangered species they are trying to conserve. They use these numbers to convince downstream water users to support upstream conservation. While this report from the Nature Conservancy is not a manual on how to conduct watershed valuation, it does describe a series of case studies that illustrate how this process is used to promote biodiversity conservation.
For information on ordering hard copies, please email Sarah Davidson.
– Read the full report (pdf)
Valuación de Cuencas como una Herramienta para la Conservación de Biodiversidad
Cuanto vale una especie en peligro de extinción? Una de las tareas más difíciles en diseñar un programa de pago por servicios derivados de la biodiversidad es convencer al público que la biodiversidad provee servicios valiosos y, al siguiente, calcular el precio de esos servicios. The Nature Conservancy ha tomado un otro enfoque. En cambio, ellos calculan el valor del agua limpia y abundante que proviene de la conservación de ecosistemas de la parte alta de una cuenca que, no por casualidad, sirven también como hábitat para las especies que ellos quieren conservar. Ellos utilizan los valores que calculan para convencer a los usuarios de agua en la parte baja de la cuenca a apoyar conservación de la parte alta. Mientras que este reporte de The Nature Conservancy no es un manual de como conducir la valuación de cuencas, se describe una serie de estudios de casos que muestran como usar este proceso para promover la conservación de la biodiversidad.
– Link para bajar el reporte (archivo de formato pdf)
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