Implementing land acquisitions for watershed services in the tropical Colombian Andes produces marginal progress for advancing area‐based conservation objectives

Abstract

The biodiversity crisis necessitates a global implementation of effective, equitable, and feasible conservation strategies. Public land acquisitions (PLAs) for watershed protection can produce co-benefits for basic human needs and biodiversity, but there are concerns that acquiring land is not scalable or may not protect threatened biodiversity. PLA programs are rare, allowing for limited opportunities to assess these concerns. We investigate a unique policy that has legally mandated PLAs in the Colombian Andes, a tropical biodiversity hotspot, since 1993. Using a novel dataset of >7000 PLAs, along with surveys and inperson interviews, we study the scale, spatial allocation, and constraints on PLA implementation, and examine its potential conservation benefits. More than 300,000 ha were acquired through PLAs, but economic and institutional factors such as land cost, government income, and land tenure informality were main drivers in the degree of PLA implementation. Acquisitions were thus directed mostly toward cheaper, less threatened ecosystems.

Improving estimates of land protection costs in a tropical biodiversity hotspot

“…Empirical cost maps enable planners to predict where conservation funds can be spent most cost-effectively. These maps can also highlight spatial discrepancies between cost-effective priorities (Figure 2) and the local availability of conservation funding, which tends to be concentrated in wealthy municipalities that are usually more expensive to protect (Reboredo Segovia et al 2023). Policy options to reduce such discrepancies include, for instance, a legal change to allow for greater flexibility in where Colombia's "1%" of conservation funding can be spent (Armsworth et al 2023), or the development of a national funding mechanism that concentrates its efforts on locations where cost-effective priorities exist but where local government income is insufficient to achieve protection goals.…”

“…These maps can also highlight spatial discrepancies between cost‐effective priorities (Figure 2) and the local availability of conservation funding, which tends to be concentrated in wealthy municipalities that are usually more expensive to protect (Reboredo Segovia et al . 2023). Policy options to reduce such discrepancies include, for instance, a legal change to allow for greater flexibility in where Colombia's “1%” of conservation funding can be spent (Armsworth et al .…”

“…We compiled a novel spatial database of public land acquisitions for conservation in Colombia. Using a combination of email requests, mailed letters, telephone surveys, and in-person visits, our research team collected data on the costs, dates, and geospatial boundaries of publicly financed land purchases for conservation purposes from regional environmental authorities (CARs), as well as from departmental and municipal governments (Reboredo Segovia et al 2023). After geoprocessing and data cleaning (Appendix S1: Panel S1), we retained data for 2094 public land acquisitions in 333 municipalities from 106 distinct government entities.…”