Costs, effectiveness, evaluation of biodiversity projects

Abstract

Conservation requires hard choices.‘We cannot preserve everything ... The laws of economics apply todiversity’ Weitzman 1992.Failure to use economic analyses will result in less conservationgains than are potentially achievable.Projects aim to deliver:• reduction in threats to species, habitats, ecosystems• increases in population number,• increases in species’ probability of survival.Markets for these outputs are rare – Cost benefit analysis tricky.Decision makers need information:• Costs of projects• Effectiveness of projects• Cost effectiveness