Loading...
The high costs of conserving Southeast Asia's lowland rainforests
Fisher, Brendan Edwards, David P. Giam, Xingli Wilcove, David S.
Fisher, Brendan
Edwards, David P.
Giam, Xingli
Wilcove, David S.
Citations
Altmetric:
License
© The Ecological Society of America
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
DOI
10.1890/100079
Abstract
Mechanisms that mitigate greenhouse-gas emissions via forest conservation have been portrayed as a cost-effective approach that can also protect biodiversity and vital ecosystem services. However, the costs of conservation - including opportunity costs - are spatially heterogeneous across the globe. The lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia represent a unique nexus of large carbon stores, imperiled biodiversity, large stores of timber, and high potential for conversion to oil-palm plantations, making this region one where understanding the costs of conservation is critical. Previous studies have underestimated the gap between conservation costs and conversion benefits in Southeast Asia. Using detailed logging records, cost data, and species-specific timber auction prices from Borneo, we show that the profitability of logging, in combination with potential profits from subsequent conversion to palm-oil production, greatly exceeds foreseeable revenues from a global carbon market and other ecosystem-service payment mechanisms. Thus, the conservation community faces a massive funding shortfall to protect the remaining lowland primary forests in Southeast Asia. © 2011 The Ecological Society of America.
Description
Date
2011-08-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Files
Loading...
fisher2011c.pdf
Adobe PDF, 323.48 KB
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Citation
Fisher B, Edwards DP, Giam X, Wilcove DS. The high costs of conserving Southeast Asia's lowland rainforests. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 2011 Aug;9(6):329-34.