Wildlife Stocks Research Articles

A bio-economic analysis of conflicts between illegal hunting and wildlife management in Cameroon: The case of Campo-Ma’an National Park

Using bio-economic modelling, this paper analyses conflicts between legal and illegal activities in the Campo-Ma’an National Park, Cameroon. We consider two different agents, a local community living near the Park - who hunt illegally to fulfil their welfare -, and a park manager who has received from the Cameroonian government the mandate to manage the wildlife found in the park. The park manager is assumed to practice an imperfect anti-poaching policy due to the persistence of poaching activities in the study area. Both agents are assumed to proceed in strategic and asymmetric interdependency where the park manager determines the anti-poaching effort and then the local people have to adjust their behaviour within a full park scheme. In a bid to reduce illegal hunting, the social planner - the Cameroonian government - then tries to implement another scheme in which the local people are allowed to hunt in the surrounding area of the park, through the establishment of community hunting zones. This park-plus-hunting scheme is an example of Integrated and Conservation Development Project. The empirical analysis is based on data drawn from different sources. Results show that the anti-poaching efforts, the wildlife stock and the harvesting rate are lesser when some hunting rights are allowed to local people as compared to what they are under full park regime. However, by recognizing some hunting rights to the local people, the share of income lost by the park is almost recovered and all poachers leave the underground to exercise in legality as hunters.

Financial Inclusion, Community Capacity Building and Pro-Wildlife Conservation Behavior around the Northern Periphery of Dja Biosphere Reserve, Cameroon

The study examines the contribution of financial inclusion and community capacity building on pro-wildlife conservation behavior among rural households at the Northern Periphery of Dja Biosphere Reserve, the east region of Cameroon. The data were elicited through the survey questionnaire administered on a sample of 279 households involved in the program of conservation in the areas. The study used a cluster sampling approach in grouping proximity villages into four zones and a purposive sampling technique was used in selecting the households. The objective was achieved empirically using three-stage maximum likelihood estimation techniques; factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The result shows that financial inclusion and community capacity building had a significant positive effect on pro-wildlife conservation behavior. The magnitude of the effect of financial inclusion on pro-wildlife conservation behavior was even larger than the magnitude of the effect of community capacity building. The findings suggest that financial inclusion and community capacity building had the tendency to reduce the decline in wildlife stocks as it promoted friendly behavior towards wildlife and its habitats. The study, therefore, recommends policies that support financial inclusion and community capacity building that are essential for sustainable conservation since it promotes pro-wildlife conservation behavior.JEL Classification: G20, O15, Q57

THE FOREIGN EXPERIENCE OF GREEN GROWTH ECONOMIC TOOLS IMPLEMENTATION

Topicality. The increase of anthropogenic impact on the ecological component of the entrepreneurship environment has caused both the threat of irreversible consequences for the natural resources quality and for the very environment of existence, and the critical socio-economic consequences at the macro and micro levels. This led to the including of ecological vector to the economic growth model, the integration of economic and environmental components of economic systems development. To take into account the ecological aspects of economic activity the specific environmental policy with various economic tools is to be developed and implemented. Aim and tasks. The purpose of the article is to study the current practice of "green" growth economic tools use, scale and directions of their implementation in different countries. The results obtained are important in the theoretical and applied area and can be used for scientific purposes and when implementing the strategy of "green" growth of the Ukrainian economy. Results. Environmentally related taxes represent about a third of the instruments in the PINE database. The OECD tax bases covered include energy products (including vehicle fuels), motor vehicles and transport services, measured or estimated emissions to air and water, ozone depleting substances, certain non-point sources of water pollution, waste management and noise, management of water, land, soil, forests, biodiversity, wildlife and fish stocks. In 2016, the highest share of taxes on energy resources takes place in Italy � 2.83% of GDP, transport taxes, and others � in Denmark (1.56% and 0.22% of GDP, respectively). Tradable permits are used to allocate emission or resource exploitation rights. Today more than 100 different tradable permit systems are operating in more than 33 countries. In 2018, the state budget of Ukraine received 2.3 billion UAH of environmental tax (for polluting emissions, discharges and disposal of waste). In general, these revenues account for 0.32% of tax revenues. A more detailed analysis showed that the growth of environmental taxes was accompanied by emission reductions in general. At the same time there is a positive dynamic of the emissions from stationary sources of pollution, while emissions from vehicles decreased significantly, that led to a general negative dynamic. Conclusion. In Ukraine, there is a discrepancy between the urgent needs of ecological and economic development and the imperfection of the tools and forms of management used, the economic incentives for rational use of nature. The lack of general list of issued (re-issued) emission permits results in the loss of control over the volume of emissions. In developed countries, the environmental regulation economic tools' stimulating importance for the development of economy and entrepreneurship is growing. They that help ensure the correspondence between production price and natural resources costs, the reimbursement of expenses caused by damage to the environment, compensation of environmental damage by the direct pollutant.

HABITAT USE STRATEGY OF VERTEBRATES IN AN EMERGING NATURE RESERVE

The habitat use strategy of vertebrates in Alabata Strict Nature Reserve was studied. Twenty (20) sample plots of 25m x 25m (0.062ha) were laid at random over the total area of the study site for data collection. King Census and Line Transect methods were modified for this study using direct and indirect modes of wildlife stock assessment for an accurate collection of data due to the dense nature of the vegetation in some areas. One hundred and twenty-one vertebrate species, belonging to fifty-six families were recorded. Twenty-seven families were represented by just a single species each, while thirteen families had two species each. The family Colubridae was represented by ten species, while Rattudae and Sciuridae had a single species respectively. Birds were the most encountered (more than 60%) followed by mammals (more than 20%) while the Order Reptalia constitutes the remaining (less than 20%). Food and cover requirements abound in the study area, which explains the availability of a variety of fauna species. There is a strong association between the environmental variables and animal species thus; distribution, performance and survival of the species are directly influenced by these variables. The Principal component analysis and Ordination shows that the ecosystem of the study site is not stable yet. This can be observed from the clustering of the animal species together in an attempt to make the best use of the environment. The maintenance of a healthy ecosystem is largely dependent on its management and control of activities of man and animals.

Management Effectiveness and Potential for Tourism of Peri-Urban Lusaka National Park, Zambia: A Preliminary Assessment

Management effectiveness of a park is multi-faceted subject with implications on various aspects of its existence. Determination of the management effectiveness of a protected area is often linked to monitoring processes. Wildlife monitoring is a critical component of wildlife management and integral part of a research programme for Lusaka National Park (49.76 km2). A preliminary study was undertaken to determine the protected area management effectiveness, initially by ascertaining the status and distribution of mega-fauna resources. This was followed by evaluating whether the park management was effective by using status of wildlife populations as surrogate in comparison to initial wildlife stocks. Helicopter and ground line transects, historical data and field patrol data were used for analyses of park’s management effectiveness and potential for ecotourism. Though the study has locally relevant findings, insights on persistence factors such as selection of translocated wildlife, resource ecology and management can benefit park ecologists, managers and other stakeholders especially those responsible for smaller parks of less than 100 km2. However, further research is recommended on wider management effectiveness elements to understand factors affecting the park’s management effectiveness.

Banking on extinction: endangered species and speculation

Man y wildlife commodities, such as tiger bones, bear bladders, ivory, and rhino horn, have been stockpiled in large quantities by speculators who expect that future price increases justify for- going the interest income associated with current sales. When supply from private stores competes with supply from 'wild populations' (in nature) and when speculators are able to collude, it may be optimal to coordinate on an extinction strategy. We analyse the behaviour of a speculator who has access to a large initial store, and finds that it is optimal to deter poachers' entry either by depressing prices (carefully timing own supply) or by depressing wild stocks. Which strategy maximizes profits critically depends on the initial wildlife stock and initial speculative stores. We apply the model to the case of black rhino conservation, and conclude it is likely that 'banking on extinction' is profitable if current speculators are able to collude. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we also find that extinction is favoured by such factors as low discount rates or high growth rates.

A Bio-Economic Model of Community Incentives for Wildlife Management Under CAMPFIRE

This paper formulates a bio-economic model to analyze community incentives for wildlife management under benefit-sharing programs like the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) in Zimbabwe. Three agents influence the wildlife stock: a parks agency determines hunting quotas, outside poachers hunt illegally, and a local community may choose to protect wildlife by discouraging poaching. Wildlife generates revenues from hunting licenses and tourism; it also intrudes on local agriculture. We consider two benefit-sharing regimes: shares of wildlife tourism rents and shares of hunting licenses. Resource sharing does not necessarily improve community welfare or incentives for wildlife conservation. Results depend on the exact design of the benefit shares, the size of the benefits compared with agricultural losses, and the way in which the parks agency manages hunting quotas.

The economics of agricultural and wildlife smuggling

The United States bans imports of certain agricultural and wildlife goods that can carry pathogens or diseases or whose harvest can threaten wildlife stocks or endanger species. Despite these bans, contraband is regularly uncovered in inspections of cargo containers and in domestic markets. This study characterizes the economic factors affecting agricultural and wildlife smuggling by drawing on inspection and interdiction data from USDA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and existing economic literature. Findings reveal that agricultural and wildlife smuggling primarily include luxury goods, ethnic foods, and specialty goods, such as traditional medicines. Incidents of detected smuggling are disproportionately higher for agricultural goods originating in China and for wildlife goods originating in Mexico. Fragmentary data show that approximately 1 percent of all commercial wildlife shipments to the United States and 0.40 percent of all U.S. wildlife imports by value are refused entry and suspected of being smuggled.

Community hunting in logging concessions: towards a management model for Cameroon’s dense forests

In central Africa, commercial poaching and local village hunting are still two major issues that logging companies must address through the implementation of effective management plans in order to certify their concessions. However, current problems in developing suitable hunting management schemes for dense tropical forests arise from (1) the difficulty associated with setting quotas which take into account indiscriminate local hunting practices (e.g. snare trapping) and the ill-defined modes of resource appropriation by local populations, (2) the difficulty associated with evaluating the effect of illegal hunting, i.e. poaching, and (3) the relative complexity of the main available model. To overcome this, we propose to develop alternative management models where village hunting is planned along the same lines as existing logging operation models, through the implementation of a system of spatio-temporal rotation of hunting areas. In practice, the logging concession, initially divided into annual logging areas, is divided into similar annual hunting areas (AHAs), which are opened to hunting during the year preceding the logging operations. A depletion of the wildlife stock is expected within the annually opened hunting areas, but the model assumes a progressive re-colonization of the depleted AHA in subsequent years from neighbouring ones. In this paper, an empirical model of such a controlled hunting system employing spatio-temporal rotation of hunting areas is tested within a Forestry Management Unit (FMU) covering 47,585 ha in the Dja region, in south-east Cameroon. The model, based on large forest areas, seems particularly well adapted to Cameroon’s dense forests because it fits within the existing legal framework of Community-Managed Zones of Hunting Interest (CMZHI) and is aligned with current logging concession operations. Preliminary results suggest that sustainable hunting can be achieved in the FMU, provided a management scheme of AHAs is strictly enforced through effective stakeholder commitment.

The Economics of Agricultural and Wildlife Smuggling

The United States bans imports of certain agricultural and wildlife goods that can carry pathogens or diseases or whose harvest can threaten wildlife stocks or endanger species. Despite these bans, contraband is regularly uncovered in inspections of cargo containers and in domestic markets. This study characterizes the economic factors affecting agricultural and wildlife smuggling by drawing on inspection and interdiction data from USDA and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and existing economic literature. Findings reveal that agricultural and wildlife smuggling primarily include luxury goods, ethnic foods, and specialty goods, such as traditional medicines. Incidents of detected smuggling are disproportionately higher for agricultural goods originating in China and for wildlife goods originating in Mexico. Fragmentary data show that approximately 1 percent of all commercial wildlife shipments to the United States and 0.40 percent of all U.S. wildlife imports by value are refused entry and suspected of being smuggled.

Compensation for wildlife damages: Habitat conversion, species preservation and local welfare

We develop a model of hunting, farming and defensive action to study the environmental and economic consequences of introducing a program to compensate peasants of a small economy for the damage caused by wildlife. We show that the widespread belief that compensation induces wildlife conservation may be erroneous. Compensation can lower the wildlife stock, and may result in a net welfare loss for local people.

Wildlife Damage and Agriculture: A Dynamic Analysis of Compensation Schemes

We study the environmental and economic consequences of introducing a program to compensate peasants for damages caused by wildlife. We show that the widely held belief that compensation induces wildlife conservation may be erroneous. In a partially open economy, compensation can lower the wildlife stock and result in a net welfare loss for local people. In an open economy, compensation can trigger wildlife extinction and also reduce welfare. We identify the conditions leading to a reduction of the wildlife stock and discuss the implications for current and planned compensation programs in Africa and Asia.

RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT VIEWPOINT: WHY COMPENSATING WILDLIFE DAMAGES MAY BE BAD FOR CONSERVATION

In an effort to attenuate human–wildlife conflict and promote conservation of charismatic megafauna, compensation programs for wildlife damages have been implemented in many countries. Compensating pastoralists and farmers for damage caused by wildlife reduces hunting pressure on wild animal populations. However, it can also lead to a decrease in efforts to prevent damage and exacerbate conflicts with wildlife. Furthermore, compensation programs increase the return to agriculture and can therefore be viewed as a subsidy toward crop and livestock production. Such subsidies can trigger agricultural expansion (and habitat conversion), an inflow of agriculture producers, and intensification of agricultural production. Each of these impacts is shown to have potentially adverse effects on the wildlife population that compensation intends to favor. In some circumstances, the net effect on the wildlife stock could be negative. This calls for a careful assessment of local ecological and economic conditions before compensation is implemented. Incentive mechanisms that are directly tied to conservation outcomes (e.g., payments to locals based on the size of the wildlife population) should be considered instead of compensation programs.

Betting on Extinction: Endangered Species and Speculation

<i>For a number of animal species, speculators are betting on future price increases by holding large stockpiles of commodities from the animal. We develop a model to explain this behavior. We derive conditions where it can be optimal for a speculator to induce poachers to harvest so rapidly as to make extinction of the species inevitable. Results from a simulation based on the black rhino indicate that “betting on extinction” may be pro. table for reasonable parameter values. We also find that extinction is favored by low discount rates or high growth rates.</i> (Q22)

Rangelands as dynamic systems — role of wildlife in rangelands

Rangelands in southern Africa are increasingly being used for conservation, ecotourism, game farming and hunting. This impacts people's livelihoods and the state of natural resources. Complimentarity and competition between wildlife and domestic livestock can be explored Theme: This session focuses on ecosystem process in savanna with an aim to understanding the different roles of wildlife and domestic stock in the ecosystem. The objective is to understand how we can better manage such systems through either multi-use or single use (i.e. only wildlife or only stock) while sustaining the system into the future. We address the following emerging issues through the symposium and associated posters: (1) complexity (and/or heterogeneity) and (2) scale as factors affecting: (i) productivity, (ii) resistance, (iii) stability, and (iv) sustainability of the ecosystem. We focus on African savanna as the major case studies, but draw on case studies (particularly in the posters) from other systems.

Habitat conservation, wildlife extraction and agricultural expansion

We develop a model of open access wildlife exploitation, habitat conservation and agricultural expansion, which is consistent with rural communities at the fringe of natural habitats in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers have the option of either hunting for wildlife or growing crops. The opportunity cost of each activity is the return to the other (economic interdependence), and habitat conversion affects the returns to both activities (ecological interdependence). We show how different patterns of conservation and agricultural expansion may emerge, and that greater conservation may be consistent with higher incomes. We also show that wildlife stocks under open access may be greater than wildlife stocks under a common property (or social planner's) regime.

Steering the impacts of ungulates on temperate forests

Ungulate game damage to growing forest stock is recognised as being part of a larger landscape-forest-ungulate-human problem to be tackled on a landscape as well as a forest scale. Whether ungulate impacts are seen as “damage” or not depends on the targets of the different land users. Possibilities for a flexible, integrated pattern of ungulate, forest, hunting and landscape management are highlighted. The impacts of forestry practices on food supply and food-independent settling stimuli for ungulates affect (1) the habitat quality, (2) the density, structure and dynamics of wildlife stocks, (3) the predisposition of forest to game damage, and (4) the scale of game damage that arises. Though silvicultural measures are seen to be of prime importance in controlling game damage, they alone cannot sustainably solve the problems of wildlife management; complementary inputs are required from all stakeholders – foresters, hunters, farmers, tourist authorities, conservationists, regional planning authorities and local communities – with plans coordinated over large enough regions to be relevant for the game species of interest. The management tools for steering ungulate behaviour and forest-ungulate interactions derive from field research. However, communication of results to stakeholders appears to be a major weakness. Suggestions for improving collaboration between stakeholders and researchers are presented, along with future research needs.

Does Human Population Growth Increase Wildlife Harvesting? An Economic Assessment

A critical question in human dimensions of wildlife management in developing countries is: Does human population growth trigger overexploitation of wildlife stocks? We address this question with a behavioral model and demonstrate that conventional wisdom is incomplete and may be misleading. While increasing population pressure may, under certain conditions, be detrimental to wildlife stocks, the reverse also may hold. More generally, we find both direct and indirect effects of increased population pressure on wildlife stocks, but the direct effects will likely have a small impact on conservation. This is because when property rights to wildlife species are poorly defined or poorly enforced, humans will expand their hunting effort as long as hunting is more beneficial (profitable) than alternative activities, or until there are zero profits in hunting for bushmeat. Increasing the number of people does not necessarily affect this zero-profit threshold, and so the effect on aggregate hunting effort likely is small. We postulate that other changes in the socioeconomic environment (e.g., technical progress in hunting, improved infrastructure, habitat conversion) are more important for conservation.

Resource utilization, property rights and welfare—Wildlife and the local people

The paper analyses the conflict between wildlife conservation and the costs and benefits obtained from it in an East African context. In the model there are two agents: a park agency managing a national park of fixed size and a group of agropastoralists living in the vicinity of the park. The park authority produces tourism services and sells hunting licences, whereas the agropastoralists produce livestock products. Wildlife and livestock interact with each other and wildlife is a nuisance for livestock production. The conflict is analysed under different market solutions as the agropastoralists, to various degrees, are given profit shares from the park activities. It is demonstrated that a market solution where they are given property rights in the form of a fixed share of the harvesting profit, will increase the nuisance on their production and therefore generally give no clear welfare gain for the local people. On the other hand, if they also receive a profit share from the tourist activity above that of the hunting benefit, the nuisance from the roaming wildlife will decrease as this scheme gives incentives for the park manager to increase the offtake and thereby decrease the wildlife stock in the long term. There will therefore be more livestock and a clear welfare gain for the agropastoralists compared to the situation where they have no property rights. Under certain conditions, the stock sizes will also be closer to what is optimal from an overall point of view.

Optimal Management of Ecotourism

The ‘sustainability’ debate strongly suggests that the viability of ecotourism is in danger unless policies which promote the natural resource base are pursued. This paper considers the sustainability of ecotourism in the particular context of wildlife amenities, using dynamic analysis. It is well known that in the presence of externalities the competitive market equilibrium is suboptimal. Static and dynamic optimal tax policies are derived which are designed to decentralize the social optimum; thereby internalizing the externalities and guaranteeing the sustainability of both the wildlife species and tourism. In particular, the dynamic policy suggests that park authorities should increase taxes as the wildlife stock increases.