Cullen, Ross

English

University of New Mexico

Volume 44 
Issue 4 Fall 2004 
Fall 2004 
The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas, by Clem 
Tisdell 
Ross Cullen 
Recommended Citation 
Ross Cullen, The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas, by Clem Tisdell, 44 Nat. Resources 
J. 1259 (2004). 
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol44/iss4/16 
This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UNM Digital Repository. It has 
been accepted for inclusion in Natural Resources Journal by an authorized editor of UNM Digital Repository. For 
more information, please contact amywinter@unm.edu, lsloane@salud.unm.edu, sarahrk@unm.edu. 
BOOK REVIEWS
ourselves. The books reviewed here -particularly those by Langston,
Bass, and Schneider and Root -can help us think more clearly.
REVIEWS
The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas. By Clem
Tisdell. Cheltenham, UK/Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.
2002. Pp. 308. $90.00 hardcover.
Few researchers match the energy of Clem Tisdell in writing on
conservation and other ecological economics topics. The author notes in
the Preface that as well as the 24 chapters in this book, his publications
on conservation, management, and use of nature can also be found in
eight other books he has authored! His prolific output over the past 30
years is best known in his native Australia, where much, but far from all,
of his research is focused. The insights in the chapters are of relevance in
many countries where conservation of wildlife and management of
natural areas are important issues.
The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas is a
compilation of essays of which 21 have been previously published in
peer-reviewed journals. The book comprises four parts. In part I the
author provides an overview of the contents of the book noting that in
general the chapters are arranged so that the reader moves from general
to more specific topics. Part II contains six chapters and is entitled
"General Issues in Biological Conservation." These chapters were first
published between 1985 and 1996. Part III contains ten chapters and is
entitled "Economics of Conserving Wildlife Species." Five of the essays
were first published during the 1970s and the most recent chapter was
written in 2001. Part IV contains seven chapters and is entitled
"Conservation and Use of Natural Areas." The earliest essay was first
published in 1972 and chapter 24 was written in 2001.
The publishers have reproduced the previously published essays
in their original formats and fonts. Chapters 2 and 7 are printed in 8-
point font, with two columns per page. They are not easily read. All
other chapters are in single column format and have larger, but varying
fonts, layout, and referencing systems. These features detract from the
value of the book and the impression created is that the publishers have
avoided the cost of preparing each of the chapters in a consistent format
and font by the simple expedient of reproduction of the original journal
articles.
What of the content of the chapters? One way to describe the
chapters is to group them under three headings: theoretical analysis and
discussion of conservation topics (chapters 2, 3, 6, 7 are examples),
analysis including illustrative diagrams but without empirical data
Fall 2004] 1259
NATURAL RESOURCES JOURNAL
(chapters 4, 8, 12, 19 are examples), and chapters that include a
significant components of new empirical research (chapters 16, 17, 22, 24
are examples).
Through careful use of a range of economic concepts and
thoughtful logical argument, Tisdell is able to scrutinize conservation
literature and highlight the deficiencies that occur when conservationists
overlook economic principles. In a similar vein he illustrates how
microeconomics can be employed to critique conservation policy and
suggest possible improvements to land use policies and species
management policies. The insights gained from these predominantly
verbal analyses are always good sense and provide excellent examples of
the power of basic economics in dissecting conservation topics.
Diagramatic illustrations are accompanied in some chapters by
some mathematical formalism to analyze selected conservation issues.
These modes of analysis appear to provide more rigorous study of topics
than occurs when solely verbal analysis is employed, but the principal
advantage of diagrams and "marginal rules" may be their ability to
evoke nods of support from readers. Diagramatic analysis is often
persuasive, but without empirical research to verify the shape and slope
of functions or document the magnitudes of scales on the axes, readers
are unable to gauge how certain are the relationships or the conclusions
drawn from analysis of the issues.
Articles providing new empirical results are always welcome
and the chapters co-authored with other researchers reporting on minke
whale, dugongs, deforestation, Asian elephants, and kangaroos are
among the most informative and interesting in this book. The data
reported in these chapters is used to illustrate or buttress arguments.
None of the chapters include complex statistical or econometric analyses.
It is rare for a book to contain 24 chapters and this book provides
a surprisingly large amount of reading. The range of topics covered is
likely to be sufficient to provide interest and value to many readers.
Professors searching for articles that illustrate to third- or fourth-year
students the relevance of microeconomics to analysis of conservation
topics will find plenty to choose from in the book. Able students will
recognise both the strengths and limitations of the analyses in the
chapters and perceive there is scope to revisit several of the issues with
more sophisticated techniques and data potentially to derive sharper
insights. Conservation policy analysts will find encouraging examples of
logical analysis allied with concern for both nature and commerce.
Ross Cullen
Lincoln University
New Zealand
[Vol. 441260


The Economics of Conserving Wildlife and Natural Areas, by Clem Tisdell

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