Voluntary Resource Conservation and Environmental Management in Agriculture and Forestry

Abstract

Voluntary programs have been used extensively to foster resource conservation and environmental improvements in the United States (US) agriculture and private forestry sectors of many developed countries. Their nonmandatory nature contrasts sharply with the regulatory approaches used in most other industries due to various political, technical, and economic factors. For example, agriculture has long enjoyed policies favoring voluntary incentives ever since resource conservation programs were introduced during the Great Depression Dust Bowl era. Furthermore, pollution flows from agricultural and forestry lands, such as fertilizer residues in water runoff from farm fields and sediment from harvested forest lands, generally do not have identifiable ‘point’ sources – making regulation technically infeasible or extremely costly. Voluntary programs usually grant farmers and foresters the flexibility to select practices that best fit their operations, offering the potential for improved efficacy and lower net cost. Despite their flexibility, evaluations of voluntary programs have found a mixed record of success. Their impacts and costs vary across operators depending upon the farmer's or forester's personal values, objectives, and resource situations. However, evaluations show a mixed record of success. Research has identified several lessons for improving voluntary program performance, for example targeting resources to priority problem areas. Current trends suggest more collaborations between non-profit organizations, industry and perhaps government, such as environmental certification schemes, will emerge.