Trends in biodiversity and habitat quantification tools used for market-based conservation in the United States.

Market-based conservation mechanisms are designed to facilitate the mitigation of harm to and conservation of habitats and biodiversity. Their potential is partly hindered, however, by the quantification tools used to assess habitat quality and functionality. Of specific concern are the lack of transparency and standardization in tool development and gaps in tool availability. To address these issues, we collected information via internet and literature searchers and through conversations with tool developers and users on tools used in U.S. conservation mechanisms, such as payments for ecosystem services (PES) and ecolabel programs, conservation banking, and habitat exchanges. We summarized information about tools and explored trends among and within mechanisms based on criteria detailing geographic, ecological, and technical features of tools. We identified 69 tools that assessed at least 34 species and 39 habitat types. Where tools reported pricing, 98% were freely available. More tools were applied to states along the U.S. West Coast than elsewhere, and the level of tool transferability varied markedly among mechanisms. Tools most often incorporated conditions at numerous spatial scales, frequently addressed multiple risks to site viability, and required 1-83 data inputs. Most tools required a moderate or greater level of user skill. Average tool-complexity estimates were similar among all mechanisms except PES programs. Our results illustrate the diversity among tools in their ecological features, data needs, and geographic application, supporting concerns about a lack of standardization. However, consistency among tools in user skill requirements, incorporation of multiple spatial scales, and complexity highlight important commonalities that could serve as a starting point for establishing more standardized tool development and feature-incorporation processes. Greater standardization in tool design may expand market participation and facilitate a needed assessment of the effectiveness of market-based conservation.

Tendencias en la Biodiversidad y en las Herramientas de Cuantificación de Hábitat Usadas para la Conservación Basada en el Mercado en los Estados Unidos Resumen Los mecanismos de conservación basada en el mercado están diseñados para facilitar la mitigación del daño y la conservación de los hábitats y la biodiversidad. Sin embargo, el potencial de estos mecanismos está parcialmente reducido por las herramientas de cuantificación usadas para evaluar la calidad y funcionalidad del hábitat. Son de preocupación específica la falta de transparencia y la estandarización del desarrollo de herramientas y los vacíos en la disponibilidad de las herramientas. Para tratar estos temas recolectamos información por medio del internet y los buscadores de literatura y a través de conversaciones con los desarrolladores y usuarios de las herramientas utilizadas en los mecanismos de conservación en los Estados Unidos, como la eco-etiqueta y los programas de pago por servicios ambientales (PES, en inglés), el banco de conservación y el intercambio de hábitats. Resumimos la información sobre las herramientas y exploramos tendencias entre y dentro de los mecanismos basados en criterios que detallan las características geográficas, ecológicas y técnicas de las herramientas. Identificamos 69 herramientas que evaluaron al menos a 34 especies y 39 tipos de hábitat. En donde las herramientas reportaron tarificación, el 98% estaban disponibles gratuitamente. Más herramientas estaban aplicadas a estados ubicados a lo largo de la costa oeste de los Estados Unidos que en cualquier otro sitio y el nivel de transferibilidad de las herramientas varió notablemente entre los mecanismos. Las herramientas comúnmente incorporaron las condiciones a numerosas escalas espaciales, trataron con frecuencia los múltiples riesgos para la viabilidad de sitio y requirieron 1 - 83 entradas de datos. La mayoría de las herramientas requirió un nivel moderado o mayor de habilidad para el usuario. Los estimados medios de la complejidad de las herramientas fueron similares entre todos los mecanismos, a excepción de los programas PES. Nuestros resultados ilustran la diversidad de características ecológicas, necesidades de datos y aplicación geográfica que existe entre las herramientas, lo que respalda las preocupaciones sobre la falta de estandarización. Sin embargo, la consistencia entre las herramientas en cuanto a los requerimientos de habilidades para el usuario, la incorporación de múltiples escalas espaciales y la complejidad resaltan las similitudes importantes que podrían servir como punto inicial para el establecimiento de un desarrollo más estandarizado de herramientas y procesos que incorporen las características del sitio. Una mayor estandarización del diseño de herramientas podría expandir la participación del mercado y facilitar una urgente evaluación de la efectividad de la conservación basada en el mercado.

Pagamento por serviços ambientais (psa) e práticas de agricultura sustentável: contribuições da análise do comportamento / Payments for environmental services (pes) and practices of sustainable agriculture: contributions from behavior analysis

O Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais (PSA) é uma estratégia utilizada desde o final da década de 1990 para recompensar os serviços ambientais prestados por agricultores, financiando ações de recomposição da vegetação em áreas desmatadas, práticas agrícolas de baixo impacto já desempenhadas, e incentivando para que estes passem a adotar práticas sustentáveis de agricultura. O objetivo deste artigo é conhecer os princípios contidos nas estratégias de PSA para a solução de problemas ambientais, bem como discutir como são implantados na prática, a partir da interpretação analítico-comportamental de uma experiência de PSA na região de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo. Reconhece-se os argumentos que validam os ganhos ambientais obtidos, e considera-se a necessidade de problematizar a suficiência dos incentivos financeiros na promoção de mudanças comportamentais e sua manutenção ao longo do tempo (AU).

This paper aims to know the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) principles and its implementation in practice, based on a behavior-analytic interpretation of a PES experience in the State of São Paulo, region of Ribeirão Preto. PES program is a strategy used since the 1990s to give financial incentives for farmers to provide environmental services. PES is a tool to fund actions of restoration at deforested areas, recognize low-impact practices already performed, and promote the adoption of sustainable practices. The arguments that support environmental gains provided by PES are recognized, but the effectiveness of financial incentives to promote behavior change and its maintenance for long term is questionable (AU).

El Pago por Servicios Ambientales (PSA) es una estrategia que se viene utilizando desde finales de la década de 1990 para recompensar los servicios ambientales prestados por agricultores, mediante la financiación de acciones de recomposición vegetal en áreas deforestadas, prácticas agrícolas de bajo impacto que ya vienen siendo implementadas, e incentivando la adopción de prácticas de agricultura sustentable. El objetivo de este artículo es reconocer los principios de las estrategias de PSA para la solución de problemas ambientales, y debatir la forma en la que éstas se dan en la práctica, a partir de la interpretación analítico-comportamental de una experiencia de PSA en la región de Ribeirão Preto, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Se reconocen los argumentos que certifican los beneficios ambientales alcanzados, pero se considera necesario evaluar la capacidad que tienen los incentivos financieros en la promoción de cambios comportamentales y el mantenimiento de estos en el tiempo (AU).

Policy challenges and approaches for the conservation of mangrove forests in Southeast Asia.

Many drivers of mangrove forest loss operate over large scales and are most effectively addressed by policy interventions. However, conflicting or unclear policy objectives exist at multiple tiers of government, resulting in contradictory management decisions. To address this, we considered four approaches that are being used increasingly or could be deployed in Southeast Asia to ensure sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation. First, a stronger incorporation of mangroves into marine protected areas (that currently focus largely on reefs and fisheries) could resolve some policy conflicts and ensure that mangroves do not fall through a policy gap. Second, examples of community and government comanagement exist, but achieving comanagement at scale will be important in reconciling stakeholders and addressing conflicting policy objectives. Third, private-sector initiatives could protect mangroves through existing and novel mechanisms in degraded areas and areas under future threat. Finally, payments for ecosystem services (PES) hold great promise for mangrove conservation, with carbon PES schemes (known as blue carbon) attracting attention. Although barriers remain to the implementation of PES, the potential to implement them at multiple scales exists. Closing the gap between mangrove conservation policies and action is crucial to the improved protection and management of this imperiled coastal ecosystem and to the livelihoods that depend on them.

Five challenges to reconcile agricultural land use and forest ecosystem services in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia possesses the highest rates of tropical deforestation globally and exceptional levels of species richness and endemism. Many countries in the region are also recognized for their food insecurity and poverty, making the reconciliation of agricultural production and forest conservation a particular priority. This reconciliation requires recognition of the trade-offs between competing land-use values and the subsequent incorporation of this information into policy making. To date, such reconciliation has been relatively unsuccessful across much of Southeast Asia. We propose an ecosystem services (ES) value-internalization framework that identifies the key challenges to such reconciliation. These challenges include lack of accessible ES valuation techniques; limited knowledge of the links between forests, food security, and human well-being; weak demand and political will for the integration of ES in economic activities and environmental regulation; a disconnect between decision makers and ES valuation; and lack of transparent discussion platforms where stakeholders can work toward consensus on negotiated land-use management decisions. Key research priorities to overcome these challenges are developing easy-to-use ES valuation techniques; quantifying links between forests and well-being that go beyond economic values; understanding factors that prevent the incorporation of ES into markets, regulations, and environmental certification schemes; understanding how to integrate ES valuation into policy making processes, and determining how to reduce corruption and power plays in land-use planning processes.

Trends in deforestation and forest degradation after a decade of monitoring in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico.

We used aerial photographs, satellite images, and field surveys to monitor forest cover in the core zones of the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico from 2001 to 2012. We used our data to assess the effectiveness of conservation actions that involved local, state, and federal authorities and community members (e.g., local landowners and private and civil organizations) in one of the world's most iconic protected areas. From 2001 through 2012, 1254 ha were deforested (i.e., cleared areas had <10% canopy cover), 925 ha were degraded (i.e., areas for which canopy forest decreased), and 122 ha were affected by climatic conditions. Of the total 2179 ha of affected area, 2057 ha were affected by illegal logging: 1503 ha by large-scale logging and 554 ha by small-scale logging. Mexican authorities effectively enforced efforts to protect the monarch reserve, particularly from 2007 to 2012. Those efforts, together with the decade-long financial support from Mexican and international philanthropists and businesses to create local alternative-income generation and employment, resulted in the decrease of large-scale illegal logging from 731 ha affected in 2005-2007 to none affected in 2012, although small-scale logging is of growing concern. However, dire regional social and economic problems remain, and they must be addressed to ensure the reserve's long-term conservation. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) overwintering colonies in Mexico-which engage in one of the longest known insect migrations-are threatened by deforestation, and a multistakeholder, regional, sustainable-development strategy is needed to protect the reserve.