Towards a Synthesized Critique of Neoliberal Biodiversity Conservation

Büscher, Bram; Sullivan, Sian; Neves, Katja; Igoe, Jim; Brockington, Dan

doi:10.1080/10455752.2012.674149

Cited by 459 publications

(307 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Our intention is to highlight ecological and economic patterns associated with movements towards conservation banking more generally, exemplified here by USA species banking. Mitigation practices that manage environmental degradation through offsetting trades in conservation measures derive from neoliberal conservation principles (McAfee 1999;Sullivan 2006;Igoe & Brockington 2007;Büscher et al 2012). Key to this is the policy decision to solve environmental problems by creating markets for profitable exchange of measures of environmental health and damage as commodities, rather than through punishment for non-compliance or through acknowledging intrinsic value (Hahn 2000;Morris 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, USA: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry

Pawliczek

Sullivan

2011

Envir. Conserv.

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SUMMARYMarket-based strategies are promoted as neoliberal governance solutions to environmental problems, from local to global scales. Tradable mitigation schemes are proliferating. These include species banking, which enables payments for the purchase of species credits awarded to conserved areas to offset development impacts on protected species elsewhere. An analysis of species banks in the USA through a survey of data from the website www.SpeciesBanking.com (established as a 'clearing house' for species banking information) was complemented by questionnaire material from USA bank managers. The number of USA species banks has increased rapidly, bank area ownership and management is consolidated in a small number of organizations, and public information on species credit price is limited. In interrogating the case material, the roles of specific economic policies associated with neoliberalism are considered, focusing on the extension of privatization, de-and re-regulation and marketization into the arena of environmental conservation, and commodification processes as manifested in species banking. Problematic ecological and distributive 'concealments' in species banking include the 'development-led' nature of conservation banking, tendencies towards net biodiversity loss, and an emphasis on supporting conservation-related wealth accumulation by larger landowners and investors.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, USA: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry

Pawliczek

Sullivan

2011

Envir. Conserv.

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“…Despite some assertions to the contrary (Costanza et al 1997), the monetization of ecosystem goods and services clearly implies that they can be traded for another sum of money through a process of commodifi cation. Th is is part of a wider capitalist dynamic whereby state-led regulation of the environment is replaced by voluntary schemes, fee-paying mechanisms operated by the private sector and policy decisions based upon economic valuation of resources (Büscher et al 2012;Dempsey and Robertson 2012). Payments for ecosystem services (PES) mechanisms can then be implemented that create a market for these newly quantifi able ecosystem goods and services, thereby encouraging pro-environmental behavior by linking local resource users and the broader global community through the "benefi ciary pays principle" (Pagiola et al 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

Clifton¹,

Cullen-Unsworth²,

Unsworth³

2014

Environment and Society

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Ⅲ ABSTRACT: Th e fl ow of ecosystem services from coral reefs, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests sustains the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide. Faced with the global degradation of marine and coastal ecosystems, policy makers are increasingly focusing on ecosystem service valuation techniques to encourage conservation and sustainable use of marine resources. Here we provide a review and synthesis of the available information on economic valuation techniques as applied to tropical marine habitats. Our study demonstrates the high variability and lack of consistency in outcomes from these studies. We conclude that, if the concept of ecosystem goods and services is to make a positive contribution towards managing the impacts of humans on the environment, then economic valuation approaches must refl ect the inherent limitations of economic theory whilst emphasizing the complexity and heterogeneity of the natural environment and human decision making.

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“…The expanding literature has 35 outlined the generalities of the trend, the variation and heterogeneity within it, and the 36 tensions between theories of how neoliberal conservation should work and empirical 37 observations of it in practice (Büscher et al, 2012;Roth and Dressler, 2012). Neoliberal 38 conservation has been criticised for its hubris, its inefficiencies in conserving biodiversity or 39 improving livelihoods, for facilitating the grabbing of land and resources by powerful actors 40 at the expense of the most vulnerable, and for supporting unsustainable economic systems 41 (Büscher et al, 2012;Igoe and Brockington, 2007). It is therefore important to understand 42 the potential of neoliberal conservation to bring about environmentally sustainable and 43 socially just forms of natural resource governance in a context where nature is increasingly 44 subject to market logics.…”

Section: Marketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Markets, Nature, Neoliberalism, and Conservation through Private Protected Areas in Southern Chile

Holmes

2015

Environ Plan A

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A vibrant literature has emerged in recent years exploring moves towards neoliberal forms of conservation, with a reduced role for the state and an enhanced role for markets and private and civil society actors. Yet there is a need for studies which explore how and why this trend has emerged, and what impact it has on both people and nature. The author provides a detailed examination of private protected areas, which are often associated with neoliberal approaches to conservation, in Chile—a country which has had a long and deep engagement with neoliberalism. It is found that private protected areas demonstrate a broad range of attitudes towards the use of markets in conservation, from enthusiasm to hostility. Yet all have been made possible, indeed incentivised, by Chile's liberalised property markets and individualistic political culture—products of earlier neoliberal reforms within Chile's society and economy. As such, they provide only a limited challenge to the social and environmental consequence of the integration of southern Chile's natural resources into global neoliberal economic chains. The author emphasises the importance of considering how broader neoliberal economic, political, and social reforms have allowed certain forms of conservation to emerge and thrive.

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Towards a Synthesized Critique of Neoliberal Biodiversity Conservation

Cited by 459 publications

References 82 publications

Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, USA: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry

Conservation and concealment in SpeciesBanking.com, USA: an analysis of neoliberal performance in the species offsetting industry

Valuing and Evaluating Marine Ecosystem Services: Putting the Right Price on Marine Environments?

Markets, Nature, Neoliberalism, and Conservation through Private Protected Areas in Southern Chile

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