Institutional Complexity, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

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2008

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Abstract

"The value of ecosystem services is increasingly being recognised (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Conservation biologists have suggested that ecosystem service based arguments may be potentially useful in developing support for the preservation of species and diverse ecosystems, but their knowledge of the institutional context for the management of such ecosystems is limited. There is increasing interest in how market-based instruments can be used to capture these values. Thus, within conservation, direct payments approaches have attracted considerable interest, reflecting the economic approach to ecosystem services within this policy sector. But the market is one among many institutions--there is in fact a range of institutional arrangements to realize the value of ecosystem services. Research on the commons that deals with institutional issues that emerge when resources become valuable has much to contribute to understanding of the institutions relevant to the management of ecosystem services. A number of the institutional challenges that emerge with the management of common pool resources(CPRs, e.g. non timber forest products, water, grazing) are relevant to the new resources created by the establishment of markets for ecosystem services (e.g. water supply, carbon sequestration or pollination). This paper analyses the relevance of knowledge about institutions for commons management to the understanding of ecosystem service based approaches to biodiversity conservation."

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ecosystems, biodiversity, conservation, institutional design, commons, collective action, IASC

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