Conservation Costs Research Articles

Global justice and the opportunity costs of conservation.

Opportunity costs can represent a significant portion of the costs associated with conservation projects and frequently outstrip other kinds of cost. They are typically understood to refer to the benefits someone would have obtained if conservation projects had not required them to give up current activities, such as farming or hunting or if the land had been available for uses other than conservation. This familiar way of identifying opportunity costs is flawed, however, because it threatens to condone, or take advantage of, the injustices that many people face that affect their opportunities. I integrated ideas from the political theory of global justice to examine how the analysis of opportunity costs illustrates the importance of considering conservation and issues of global justice together, rather than thinking about them in isolation. I distinguish four baselines for defining opportunity costs. A status quo baseline defines opportunity costs by asking what people would have earned had a conservation project not happened. A willingness to accept baseline defines them by asking people what it would take to make them indifferent to whether a conservation project takes place or not. An antipoverty baseline suggests that opportunity costs have been met when people affected by a project are not left in poverty. An egalitarian baseline suggests opportunity costs have been met when people are not left in relative disadvantage, with worse than average opportunities. I argue that the egalitarian baseline is the most acceptable from the point of view of justice. Such a baseline would suggest that, in practice, many of the world's poor are being unjustly treated, or even exploited, as a result of conservation activities.

Cost Analysis of Collection and Ex Situ Conservation of Seeds of Important Native Tree Species of Mexico

In Mexico, there are barely any studies that estimate the cost of germplasm conservation especially that carried out ex situ. The objective of this study was to analyze the collection and storage costs (CSC) of seeds of some native tree species that have social and economic importance in Mexico. Information on the importance of native trees was obtained through a literature review and research from a seed bank and forest technical service providers. Based on the environmental and social importance, as well as the conservation status of native species, poverty attention, and food security, an indicator of economic and social importance has been designed using multicriteria analysis. The highest value of the indicator included 32 species; Fabaceae was the most represented family (28%). The CSC analysis was applied to the species with the highest value indicator, currently available market price (CMP), and stored in the seed bank (SB). They were evaluated using the “cost of collection” method comparing CMP vs. SB. The cost of accession in the SB is 11 times higher than the CMP with 7% of nominal interest rate (NIR) and increases 24 times during a storage period of ten years with the same NIR per year. Despite the costs associated with the maintenance and management of SBs, their importance for conservation and contribution to society is highlighted.

Power-assisted Liposuction for Lymphedema: A Cost-utility Analysis.

Extremity volumes from all patients who underwent debulking surgery of the upper extremity at two institutions between December 2017 and January 2020 with at least 12 months follow-up were included. Procedural costs were calculated using Medicare reimbursement data. Average utility scores were obtained for each health state using a visual analog scale, then converted to quality-adjusted life years. A decision tree was generated, and incremental cost-utility ratios were calculated. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate our findings. Debulking surgery is associated with a higher clinical effectiveness (quality-adjusted life year) of 27.05 compared to conservative management (23.34), with a relative cost reduction of $74,487. Rollback analysis favored debulking surgery as the cost-effective option compared to conservative management. The resulting negative incremental cost-utility ratio of -20,115.07 favored debulking surgery and indicated a dominant strategy. Our study supports the use of debulking surgery for the treatment of chronic lymphedema of the upper extremity.

Benefit-cost analysis of becoming certified pollinator friendly

Despite significant drop in pollinator abundance, no studies exist on the benefits and costs of pollinator conservation in the public domain. An in-person survey was conducted at three large, public US universities to estimate benefits to become Bee Campus USA certified. We test whether different types of reminders on existing student sustainability fees affect Willingness to Pay. Costs of achieving this certification per university were obtained. Net Present Value demonstrates that the net benefits to each school are largely positive, except under the most restrictive assumption. Information reminders of existing fees lead to little change in support of pollinator conservation.

ENVIRONMENTAL COST DISCLOSURE AND CORPORATE PROFITABILITY: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS FIRMS

Environmental Accounting as an emerging field in accounting pedagogy and practice is gaining wide acceptance among stakeholders as they communicate significant information regarding the sustainability of the firm's activities while assisting management in enhancing environmental performance of their firm. This research aims at examining the effect of environmental cost disclosure(ECD) on corporate profitability in listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria, adopting ex-post facto research design, 10 firms were sampled from a population of fifty listed oil and gas firms. Data on Return on equity(ROE), Net Profit Margin(NPM) and Earning per share(EPS) were gleaned from the annual reports of the sampled firms from 2010-2020, the research findings, indicates that ROE have negative and significant effect on environmental cost disclosure of firms, net profit margin (NPM) has a positive relationship with environmental cost disclosure among listed firms and earnings per share (EPS) have no significant effect on environmental cost disclosure among listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. It is therefore recommended that Firms should ensure efficient management of environmental conservation costs in order to enhance their profitability. Keywords: Environmental Cost Disclosure, Return on Equity, Earnings per Share, Net Profit Margin, Environmental Management Accounting.

Transformation Path of Ecological Product Value and Efficiency Evaluation: The Case of the Qilihai Wetland in Tianjin.

In order to protect wetland resources, China has developed wetland conservation policies and has made significant conservation investments, but there is still a lack of pathways for the conversion to economic value, making it difficult to meet the demand for continuous investment. We have explored a sustainable ecological conservation mechanism using the Seven Mile Sea as a case study, so that ecological conservation costs can be transformed into economic development behaviors and ecological benefits and socio-economic development can be integrated. This paper assesses the ecological product value of the Qilihai Wetland based on the ecosystem service function value assessment method, which designs the realization path of ecological product value and predicts the value transformation efficiency. The results show the following: (1) The total value of ecological products in the study area is CNY 569.06 million (USD 78.36 million), and the main sources of value are plant products in the supply service and water purification functions in the regulation service, accounting for 54.05% and 26.10% of the total, respectively. (2) The predicted value realization of ecological products, ideally, is CNY 689.65 million (USD 94.96 million), with a value realization rate of 111.60%. Considering the management policy restrictions in different areas of the Qilihai Wetland, the actual value realization volume is CNY 391.94 million (USD 53.97 million), with a value realization rate of 63.42%. (3) Owing to the restriction of the development policy of supply services and cultural services, the value realization path mainly contains two types: one is to drive the development of supply services and cultural services in the surrounding areas, along with product premiums, to realize value transformation. This path is mainly aimed at the supply of local characteristic products and the development of tourism. The second is to realize the value of regulating services through ecological compensation and ecological equity trading. This path is mainly for the adjustment and support services in the core area and buffer area. According to the pre-accounting results, the contribution rates of the two paths are 62.25% and 37.75%, respectively. The second path should be further effectively developed to improve the contribution rate. This study helps assess the ecological value and important ecological elements of the Qilihai Wetland to ensure effective protection and development of important ecological resources and to achieve the sustainable development of wetland resources. It provides a reference for exploring feasible paths to realize the value of ecological goods.

Cost Assessment of Cryogenic Preservation of Biocollections during the COVID Pandemic at CeReB 2020-2021

Aims: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) is a new human disease caused by the Coronavirus SARS-COV-2. It was classified as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on March 11, 2020. The Institute Pasteur of Côte d'Ivoire (IPCI), through its specialized units and its Center National of Reference (CNR) for respiratory viruses, has been entrusted with the mission of coordinating the diagnostic and conservation efforts of COVID-19 for the country.
 The objective of this study is to evaluate the costs of cryogenic conservation of biocollections during the COVID pandemic at the Côte d'Ivoire Biological Resource Center (CeReB) from 2020-2021.
 Methodology: Cost and sample data were collected using a questionnaire administered to the IPCI administration, the Supply Management Unit (UGA) and CeReB staff that ensured data quality.
 Results: For our study period, of the 1,225,710 SARS COV 2 samples collected by National Surveillance 92.7% (1,137,210/1,225,710) were received in IPCI laboratories for diagnosis.
 Variable costs are higher than fixed costs in both cryovial and chaff collection production. The total production cost of the straw collection is 3.5 times the total production cost of the cryovial collection
 Conclusion: This study establishes a generic analysis of the capital and operating costs required to integrate nasopharyngeal specimen cryopreservation and can serve as a model for the implementation of cryopreservation programs.

Determining the economic costs and benefits of conservation actions: A decision support framework

AbstractThe need for conservation action to be cost‐effective is widely accepted, resulting in increased interest and effort to assess effectiveness. Assessing the financial and economic costs of conservation is equally important for assessing cost‐effectiveness, yet their measurement and assessment are repeatedly identified as lacking. The healthcare sector, in contrast, has made substantial progress in identifying and including costs in decision‐making. Here, we consider what conservation can learn from this experience. We present a three‐step framework for identifying and recording the relevant economic costs and benefits of conservation interventions where the user (1) describes the costing context, (2) determines which types of cost and benefit to include, and (3) obtains values for these costs and benefits alongside metadata necessary for others to interpret the data. This framework is designed to help estimate economic costs but can also be used flexibly to record the direct costs of interventions (i.e., financial costs) and calculate financial and economic benefits. Although recording data on economic costs and benefits is deceptively complex, this framework facilitates improved recording, and indicates how collating this data could enhance the assessment of cost‐effectiveness across conservation contexts using a range of decision‐making tools.

Spatial scales and urban greenspace types influence public conservation preferences

There are increasing concerns for urban greenspaces as critical sources for biodiversity. Urban greenspaces provide various ecosystem services essential for urban residents. The emergent task is to incorporate public opinion for implementing urban landscape management by increasing their preference for conservation of urban greenspaces. However, there is little available information about public conservation preferences. Here, we examined the public preference for conservation of urban greenspaces and their determinants through an online questionnaire using photographs taken across two spatial scales (landscape and community) and two greenspace types (satoyamas and urban parks). Participants were asked about their conservation preferences (measured by the extent of willingness to pay) in response to the photographs of grassland habitats under different management conditions across satoyamas and urban park sites. We showed that the public are willing to pay more for managed satoyama sites (on average 447.0 JPY) than abandoned ones (395.5 JPY) at landscape scales. Managed satoyama sites included more species richness than abandoned ones. However, conservation preference for satoyama sites was deemed scale-dependent since it remained unaffected by management conditions at community scales. We thus suggest the importance of conserving the satoyama landscapes as per public requirement. In urban parks, independent of spatial scales, we found greater conservation preference for intensively-managed lawns (on average 478.6 and 426.0 JPY at landscape and community scales, respectively) than moderately-managed meadows (447.5 and 380.7 JPY). Urban lawns had less species richness than meadows, suggesting that public conservation preference for urban greenspaces is not necessarily built on biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, participants with more ecological knowledge, richer natural experiences in their childhood, and a higher frequency of greenspace visits were more willing to pay for conservation of both satoyamas and urban park sites independent of spatial scales. Thus, public conservation preferences for urban greenspaces depend on spatial scales considered and greenspace types. We provided some realistic data to prove that the Japanese people are willing to pay for the conservation of satoyamas and urban park greenspaces. Environmental education efforts and ensuring nature experiences could prove to be crucial measures to increase the public acceptance of the societal costs for biodiversity conservation.

Using ecosystem services to identify inequitable outcomes in migratory species conservation

AbstractBiodiversity conservation efforts have been criticized for generating inequitable socio‐economic outcomes. These equity challenges are largely analyzed as place‐based problems affecting local communities directly impacted by conservation programs. The conservation of migratory species extends this problem geographically since people in one place may benefit while those in another bear the costs of conservation. The spatial subsidies approach offers an effective tool for analyzing such relationships between places connected by migratory species. Designed to quantify ecosystem services provided and received in specific locations across a migratory species’ range—and the disparities between them—the spatial subsidies approach highlights three axes of inequity: between indigenous and settler colonial societies, between urban and rural populations, and between the Global North and Global South. Recognizing these relationships is critical to achieving two mutually reinforcing policy goals: avoiding inequitable conservation outcomes in efforts to conserve migratory species, and ensuring effective long‐term conservation of migratory species. In demonstrating how the spatial subsidies approach enables the identification and quantification of inequities involving three migratory species (northern pintail ducks, monarch butterflies, and Mexican free‐tailed bats), we argue that a spatial subsidies approach could apply to migratory species conservation efforts worldwide under the context of “payments for ecosystem services.”

G-DIRT: a web server for identification and removal of duplicate germplasms based on identity-by-state analysis using single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping data.

Maintaining duplicate germplasms in genebanks hampers effective conservation and utilization of genebank resources. The redundant germplasm adds to the cost of germplasm conservation by requiring a large proportion of the genebank financial resources towards conservation rather than enriching the diversity. Besides, genome-wide-association analysis using an association panel with over-represented germplasms can be biased resulting in spurious marker-trait associations. The conventional methods of germplasm duplicate removal using passport information suffer from incomplete or missing passport information and data handling errors at various stages of germplasm enrichment. This limitation is less likely in the case of genotypic data. Therefore, we developed a web-based tool, Germplasm Duplicate Identification and Removal Tool (G-DIRT), which allows germplasm duplicate identification based on identity-by-state analysis using single-nucleotide polymorphism genotyping information along with pre-processing of genotypic data. A homozygous genotypic difference threshold of 0.1% for germplasm duplicates has been determined using tetraploid wheat genotypic data with 94.97% of accuracy. Based on the genotypic difference, the tool also builds a dendrogram that can visually depict the relationship between genotypes. To overcome the constraint of high-dimensional genotypic data, an offline version of G-DIRT in the interface of R has also been developed. The G-DIRT is expected to help genebank curators, breeders and other researchers across the world in identifying germplasm duplicates from the global genebank collections by only using the easily sharable genotypic data instead of physically exchanging the seeds or propagating materials. The web server will complement the existing methods of germplasm duplicate identification based on passport or phenotypic information being freely accessible at http://webtools.nbpgr.ernet.in/gdirt/.

Features of use and design solutions of wide-reach sprinkler equipment

The article discusses the issues of making modern structural decisions in the design of wide-span sprinklers, taking into account the special conditions of their operation. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of modern materials and technologies for the creation of this technique, taking into account the reliable operation of individual nodes, which generally determines the efficiency and resource conservation, reducing financial and labor costs for repairs and maintenance of irrigation equipment. The productivity of agricultural production on irrigated lands significantly depends on the quality condition and reliable operation of irrigation equipment.

Fisher–shark interactions: A loss of support for the Maldives shark sanctuary from reef fishers whose livelihoods are affected by shark depredation

AbstractTargets for protecting predatory species often fail to consider the human costs of conservation. Human–wildlife interactions can increase following conservation action and present a major ecological and socioeconomic challenge. Using semistructured interviews (n = 103), participatory mapping (n = 57) and Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (50 h) we investigated fisher‐shark interactions in one of the world's principal shark sanctuaries. Seventy‐three percent of respondents reported an increase in shark depredation postsanctuary implementation. Fisher‐reported losses due to shark depredation varied significantly between fisheries and were disproportionately high for reef fishers (>21% of daily vessel earnings). This is attributed to extensive spatial overlap (55%–78%) between reef fishing activity and ecologically validated shark hotspots. We show significant correlations between perceptions of depredation and support for shark sanctuary regulations. Findings demonstrate the need to consider fisher–shark interactions in current and future conservation planning and suggest that management of depredation must be sensitive to diverging perceptions among fisher groups.

When and where to protect forests.

Ongoing deforestation poses a major threat to biodiversity1,2. With limited resources and imminent threats, deciding when as well as where to conserve is a fundamental question. Here we use a dynamic optimization approach to identify an optimal sequence for the conservation of plant species in 458 forested ecoregions globally over the next 50 years. The optimization approach includes species richness in each forested ecoregion, complementarity of species across ecoregions, costs of conservation that rise with cumulative protection in an ecoregion, the existing degree of protection, the rate of deforestation and the potential for reforestation in each ecoregion. The optimal conservation strategy for this formulation initially targets a small number of ecoregions where further deforestation leads to large reductions in species and where the costs of conservation are low. In later years, conservation efforts spread to more ecoregions, and invest in both expanded protection of primary forest and reforestation. The largest gains in species conservation come in Melanesia, South and Southeast Asia, the Anatolian peninsula, northern South America and Central America. The results highlight the potentially large gains in conservation that can be made with carefully targeted investments.

Green Cost Accounting and Financial Performance of Selected Upstream Companies in Nigeria

There is a growing concern about the implications of environmental activities on the profitability of upstream companies in Nigeria. In view of the individual importance of the environment and the continued survival of business organizations, attention is focused on the interplay of sustainability of the environment and profitability of corporate organizations. The study specifically assessed the effect of environmental conservation cost on return on assets and net profit after tax of upstream companies in Nigeria. The study adopted the ex-post factor research design and data were sourced from the companies’ annual audited financial reports for the period 2009 to 2018. The multiple regression technique was applied in estimating the study’s parameters. Findings showed that environmental conservation cost has positive and insignificant effect on return on assets and profit after tax of upstream companies in Nigeria. The study therefore concluded that green cost accounting has positive and insignificant effect on financial performance of selected upstream companies in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is therefore recommended that Nigerian upstream Companies should ensure proper management of environmental conservation costto enhance their profitability

Investigating acceptance of marine tourism levies, to cover the opportunity costs of conservation for coastal communities

Marine tourism is promoted as a substitute economic activity to unsustainable fishing, which is compatible with conservation. However, benefits of marine tourism do not typically accrue in small-scale fisheries (SSFs), which often bear the costs of conservation; they accrue to tourists and tourist-focussed businesses. We explored how marine tourism levies could operationalise the beneficiary-pays principle and address these cost-benefit inequities using an online contingent valuation (CV) survey to measure international tourists' willingness-to-pay (WTP) towards community-based shark conservation (N = 1033). Levies were widely supported (96%), with median and Turnbull mean WTP of US$ 10–14.99 and $22.02 per person per day, respectively. We combined these results with data from two marine tourism hotspots in Indonesia – Lombok and Pulau Weh – to explore the feasibility of implementing tourism levies to incentivize pro-conservation behaviour in local SSFs. Our conservative estimates indicate that marine tourism levies in Lombok and Pulau Weh could respectively generate US$ 2.3–10 million and US$ 300,000–1.3 million annually – several times greater than the estimated costs of conservation incentives in local SSFs. The marine tourism industry offers an under-utilised revenue stream for marine conservation, which could support policy aspirations such as ‘a sustainable and equitable blue economy’.

Unemployment Problems and Countermeasures Caused by the Government's Air Pollution Control Policy: Taking Hebei Province as an Example

China has achieved tremendous economic development in the past 30 years. However, the extensive way of developing the economy has also caused a certain degree of environmental pollution, such as air pollution caused by coal burning, especially in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. To solve this problem, China has made a series of policies to tackle the severe air pollution in this region. Although those policies are effective, they have also led to some social problems. This phenomenon has caught the attention of researchers. This paper aims to study the consequences of environmental policies on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and how to alleviate the negative impact of those environmental policies. Through analyzing the data of industrial structure in the past eight years, it is found that the pillar industry of this region is the secondary industry. China's designated environmental policies have increased the cost of taxes, basic materials, energy conservation and emission reduction equipment for small and medium-sized enterprises in the second industry, resulting in the decline of profits and even bankruptcy of small and medium-sized enterprises and causing the recession of the second industry and economy recession. It has led directly to the decline of manufacturing, higher unemployment and increased competition between The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. This paper tries to provide some countermeasures and suggestions to Hebei province's social and economic problems, such as rising unemployment and recession. Finally, it analyzes the latest national air governance policies and the changes in industrial structure brought about by sustainable energy in the future, trying to solve the problem of worker unemployment caused by air policies through the development of green industries.

Comprehensive analysis of waterlogging control and carbon emission reduction for optimal LID layout: a case study in campus.

Nowadays, sponge city reconstruction has become the focus of research because of the increasingly serious urban waterlogging. Carbon emission reduction, waterlogging area reduction, cost, and other indicators were considered to explore the optimal sponge allocation scheme in the study area. The two-dimensional coupled model MIKE FLOOD was established to analyze the causes of waterlogging through numerical simulation. Low-impact development (LID) combination scenarios were set to analyze the control effects of waterlogging water and total runoff. The carbon emission reduction capacity and economic benefit of each scenario were calculated and evaluated. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was used to comprehensively evaluate the LID combination scenario and explore the optimal cost-benefit LID configuration scheme. The results show that the campus rainwater pipe network is under overload operation, and the number of overflow nodes accounts for up to 58.1% under the 3a rainfall return periods. After setting up LID measures, the runoff control rate can be increased by 26.15-42.84%, and the waterlogging area where the depth exceeds 15cm can be reduced by 72.87-100%. If the energy conservation and emission reduction benefits and costs are considered at the same time, the layout scenario of 9% bioretention facility + 3% green roof + 3% permeable pavement can achieve the best benefits. The research can provide a reference for planning and reconstruction of sponge campus and residential areas.

Payment for special nature management as a tool for providing balanced use of natural resources

In this paper, we have analyzed the problems of formation of the payment for special use of natural resources during the implementation of the concept of sustainable development and the need to conserve natural resources for present and future generations. Payment for special nature management is considered as one of the principles of environmental law, in particular the right to use natural resources, as part of the economic and legal mechanism for environmental protection and as the main feature and condition of special use of natural resources in economic activities. The historical aspect of the development of payment for special nature management in the environmental legislation and state environmental policy in Ukraine is studied. The attention is drawn to the inconsistence usage of payment for nature management as a principle in the state strategic documents of environmental orientation, which may be an obstacle to the implementation of balanced and economical use of natural resources policies. The role of payment for special use of natural resources within the framework of the economic and legal mechanism of environmental protection are considered, its fiscal nature as a source of filling the corresponding budgets and the scope of accumulated funds for resource conservation and environmental measures.Features and problems of payment in various spheres of nature management are analyzed. Gaps and inconsistencies in the modern environmental legislation on the regulation of paid or free usage of natural resources are highlighted.The importance of payment for nature management is emphasized concerning the fact that the relevant payments are a source of accumulation of budget funds and should be targeted; they compensate for the costs of protection, conservation and reproduction of natural resources and ecosystems; perform a stimulating function - encourage nature users, business entities to use natural resources rationally, economically and effectively.

Make IT Work: The Labor Market Effects of Information Technology Retraining in the Netherlands

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effects of an active labor market program (ALMP) for higher educated workers in the Netherlands. The one-year program is characterized by six months of full-time IT retraining followed by a six-month internship. We estimate the effects of participating on earnings per month and working days per month. The results show significant lock-in effects during the program, lasting up to five months after program start. After this lock-in period, we find significant positive effects on earnings and working days. These positive effects remain significant until the end of the 36-month evaluation period. A conservative cost–benefit analysis based on the effects on earnings shows a return of 2.53% (95% CI 2.02–3.04%), which is low compared to the returns to education in the Netherlands of around 8%. We conclude that IT retraining has positive effects on the labor market outcomes of the participants yet relatively low returns.