The Domestic Benefits of Tropical Forests: A Critical Review
BibTeX
@MISC{_thedomestic,
author = {},
title = {The Domestic Benefits of Tropical Forests: A Critical Review},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
Many forest conservation projects seek to preserve biodiversity by protecting habitats from exploitation or degradation. Although such efforts are often motivated by global concerns, habitat protection also yields domestic benefits. Some of these are intangible or difficult to quantify; others, such as watershed protection and the production ofnonforest timber products, are immediate and tangible. There are two rationales for quantifying the domestic benefits of habitat conservation. The first is motivational. Host countries capture only a small proportion of the global benefits which stem from biodiversity conservation. Demonstration of palpable local ben-efits could help to build support for biodiversity-oriented projects. Second, the magnitude of domestic benefits could influence project financing. Sufficiently large net domestic ben-efits could justify financing of a project on narrow economic grounds, with biodiversity conservation as a by-product. This review finds that the quantifiable benefits of forest preservation in providing hydrological services and nontimberforest products are highly variable. Locally important in some situations, these classes of domestic benefits may in general be smaller than popu-larly supposed. This underscores the need for financing conservation from the Global Environmental Facility or other global sources rather than placing the burden entirely on domestic resources. This article focuses almost exclusively on forests in the humid tropics and on two of their potentially most important benefits: hydrological benefits such as erosion control and regulation of stream flows; and nontimber forest products, such as rubber, rattan, fruit, and nuts. Hydrological effects are emphasized for three reasons. First, forests are assumed to be economically important for preventing soil erosion and flooding, pro-tecting die water supply, and maintaining rainfall patterns (Botkin and Talbot 1992, p. 51; Myers 1995). Second, diese assertions are often made widi little supporting
Keyphrases
domestic benefit critical review tropical forest biodiversity conservation host country important benefit stream flow humid tropic forest product narrow economic ground timber product hydrological effect biodiversity-oriented project palpable local ben-efits habitat conservation conservation project rainfall pattern pro-tecting die water supply erosion control global source soil erosion habitat protection project financing quantifiable benefit global benefit hydrological service global environmental facility global concern watershed protection domestic resource hydrological benefit small proportion large net domestic ben-efits diese assertion
