Abstract
BackgroundEconomic development policies may have important economic and ecological consequences beyond the sector they target. Understanding these consequences is important to improving these policies and finding opportunities to align economic development with natural resource conservation. These issues are of particular interest to governments and non-governmental organizations that have new mandates to pursue multiple benefits. In this case study, we examined the direct and indirect economic and ecological effects of an increase in the government-controlled price for the primary agricultural product in the Republic of Kiribati, Central Pacific.Methods/Principal FindingsWe conducted household surveys and underwater visual surveys of the coral reef to examine how the government increase in the price of copra directly affected copra labor and indirectly affected fishing and the coral reef ecosystem. The islands of Kiribati are coral reef atolls and the majority of households participate in copra agriculture and fishing on the coral reefs. Our household survey data suggest that the 30% increase in the price of copra resulted in a 32% increase in copra labor and a 38% increase in fishing labor. Households with the largest amount of land in coconut production increased copra labor the most and households with the smallest amount of land in coconut production increased fishing the most. Our ecological data suggests that increased fishing labor may result in a 20% decrease in fish stocks and 4% decrease in coral reef-builders.Conclusions/SignificanceWe provide empirical evidence to suggest that the government increase in the copra price in Kiribati had unexpected and indirect economic and ecological consequences. In this case, the economic development policy was not in alignment with conservation. These results emphasize the importance of accounting for differences in household capital and taking a systems approach to policy design and evaluation, as advocated by sustainable livelihood and ecosystem-based management frameworks.
Highlights
Governmental and non-governmental organizations are increasingly interested in understanding the connections between economic development and environmental sustainability
The Millenium Development Goals [1] and the Millenium Ecosystem Assessment [2] suggest that economic development and environmental sustainability goals are inextricably linked because people both depend on and impact the environment and natural resources
We examined the potential impacts of changes in fishing labor on key coral reef ecological groups using path analysis
Summary
Governmental and non-governmental organizations are increasingly interested in understanding the connections between economic development and environmental sustainability. Households in developing countries often participate in multiple livelihood activities in order to enhance their ability to maintain income or consumption levels despite changing economic and environmental conditions [5,6] This means that economic development policies focused on a single sector are likely to affect activities in another sector [7]. Understanding these consequences is important to improving these policies and finding opportunities to align economic development with natural resource conservation These issues are of particular interest to governments and non-governmental organizations that have new mandates to pursue multiple benefits. In 2004, the copra price was increased by another 21% in all islands (Table 1)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
