Protected Area Assessment and Establishment in Vanuatu

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Protected areas, wildlife conservation and local welfare

The establishment and expansion of protected areas in Africa have been motivated by the aspiration of increased wildlife abundance. During the past decades, however, this practise has been subject to a massive debate. While some claim that protected areas have failed in preserving African wildlife, others claim that existing protected areas are successful. This paper adds to this debate by presenting a bio-economic analysis of protected area expansion. The model considers a hunter-agrarian community located on the border of a protected area. An expansion of the protected area means less land for agricultural cultivation and hunting. Depending on the economic conditions in these activities, it is demonstrated that protected area expansion may reduce the degree of wildlife conservation. In addition, it may reduce the welfare of the local people.protected areas; wildlife conservation; hunting; agriculture; local welfare

A semiparametric analysis of determinants of protected area.

We use a semiparametric additive model to study the relationship between protected area, income, trade, population, education, and political institutions in a sample of 89 countries. The results show the nonexistence of environmental Kuznets curve in the data sample. The study also points out the existence of nonlinearity in the relationship between protected area and the ratio of net secondary school enrollment.Education; environmental Kuznets curve; protected area; semipara-metric additive models

The Premium of Marine Protected Areas: A Simple Valuation Model

The article addresses the induced cost, the premium, from establishing a marine protected area in a deterministic model of a fishery. Outside the protected area, the fishery is managed optimally through total allowable catch quotas. The premium is found to be increasing and convex along the protection parameter. Biological measures are introduced to increase the understanding of the mechanisms in the bioeconomic system. Time-series solutions show that the net return per unit of fish increases after the protected area is established.Bioeconomics, dynamic programming, fisheries management, marine protected areas, migration, modeling, optimization, renewable resources., International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, C61, Q22, Q57.,

From the Galalpagos to Tongariro: Recognizing and saving the most important places in the world

Protected areas are one of the less glamorous areas of international environmental law. They are commonly overshadowed by what are perceived as much more dramatic topics, which capture the public attention to a much greater degree.1 This is a highly ironic situation for three reasons. First, because protected areas are the foremost methods by which species and ecosystems are effectively preserved. Second, because protected areas are tangible, and are not merely theoretical constructs. Third, the obligation to create protected areas is one of the most long-standing goals in numerous environmental treaties. For a long time this goal was not tied to any specific outcomes, and the numbers of protected areas grew slowly. However, in the new century, due to an increased recognition of the above considerations, the international community has not only reiterated the goal to create more protected areas, they also set targets of what they want to achieve. The international interest is this area can be seen with a number of examples, such as marine protected areas and transboundary protected areas. Collectively, such support has lead to the creation, in total, of over 102,000 protected areas spread over the Earth