Ecomarkets for conservation and sustainable development in the coastal zone

Abstract

Because conventional markets value only certain goods or services in the ocean (e.g. fish), other services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems that are not priced, paid for, or stewarded tend to become degraded. In fact, the very capacity of an ecosystem to produce a valued good or service is often reduced because conventional markets value only certain goods and services, rather than the productive capacity. Coastal socio-ecosystems are particularly susceptible to these market failures due to the lack of clear property rights, strong dependence on resource extraction, and other factors. Conservation strategies aimed at protecting unvalued coastal ecosystem services through regulation or spatial management (e.g. Marine Protected Areas) can be effective but often result in lost revenue and adverse social impacts, which, in turn, create conflict and opposition. Here, we describe 'ecomarkets' - markets and financial tools - that could, under the right conditions, generate value for broad portfolios of coastal ecosystem services while maintaining ecosystem structure and function by addressing the unique problems of the coastal zone, including the lack of clear management and exclusion rights. Just as coastal tenure and catch-share systems generate meaningful conservation and economic outcomes, it is possible to imagine other market mechanisms that do the same with respect to a variety of other coastal ecosystem goods and services. Rather than solely relying on extracting goods, these approaches could allow communities to diversify ecosystem uses and focus on long-term stewardship and conservation, while meeting development, food security, and human welfare goals. The creation of ecomarkets will be difficult in many cases, because rights and responsibilities must be devolved, new social contracts will be required, accountability systems must be created and enforced, and long-term patterns of behaviour must change. We argue that efforts to overcome these obstacles are justified, because these deep changes will strongly complement policies and tools such as Marine Protected Areas, coastal spatial management, and regulation, thereby helping to bring coastal conservation to scale.

Novel tradable instruments in the conservation of coral reefs, based on the coral gardening concept for reef restoration

“…Nursery farmed and transplanted colonies of Stylophora pistillata are illustrated as a test case. Based on the literature (Shafir and Rinkevich, 2010;Shaish et al, 2010a,b;Horoszowski-Friedman et al, 2011;Fujita et al, 2013;Leal et al, 2013;Rinkevich, 2014), unpublished results and the proposed new market-based instruments.…”

“…Using the second-tier of market-based tools, coral reef restoration provides a platform for expanding existing markets, with products that have not been considered thus far, in addition to broadening some of the markets already involved. By providing new/expanded markets, the secondtier deviates from traditional economic considerations, predominantly preferring reef stakeholders (e.g., Sundar, 2013;Blignaut et al, 2014), through the description of novel markets/financial instruments associated with reef restoration (Fujita et al, 2013). Thus, using the 'gardening approach', the second-tier incentives adopt anthropocentric perspectives that focus on several instrumental values (Fig.…”

Collaborative decision-analytic framework to maximize resilience of tidal marshes to climate change

“…Public support for expenditures to conserve or restore these ecosystems may decrease if the benefits to human health and well-being are poorly addressed (Fujita et al 2013). Our team of diverse stakeholders who want to manage for tidal marsh resilience believed that diverse ecosystem services should be considered, including plant productivity, sediment trapping, improved water quality, carbon sequestration, and flood mitigation (Duarte et al 2013).…”

Issues and Challenges of Mangrove conservation in the Anthropocene

“…Although mangroves are increasingly incorporated into reserve systems and addressed through legal restrictions and other regulations, mangrove loss and degradation persist, due in part to their 'incomplete' valuation in the modern marketplace (Fujita et al, 2013). Financial instruments, such as payments for environmental services, conservation easements and mitigation banking, along with expanded markets that value a broader suite of goods and services could greatly enhance the conservation of mangroves, though successful examples of such programs are scarce.…”

“…Financial instruments, such as payments for environmental services, conservation easements and mitigation banking, along with expanded markets that value a broader suite of goods and services could greatly enhance the conservation of mangroves, though successful examples of such programs are scarce. Challenges for creating these new markets and incentives include unclear property and tenure rights, overlapping jurisdictions and responsibilities, and weak institutional frameworks (Fujita et al 2013). These payments could offset persisting market failures and boost mangrove conservation, especially in developing countries, which hope to benefit from carbon markets developed under REDD+.…”