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During the last 30 years, the number of protected areas worldwide established to
protect natural systems grew dramatically. Coinciding with that expansion, many
government agencies and conservation NGOs advocate for combinations of
development/livelihood policies and conservation policies attempt to address rural
poverty while conserving forests (Naughton-Treves, et al., 2005). For example, WWF’s
policy on forest and poverty states that “national and international forest policies and the
conservation movement should address both the sustainable management of natural
forests and rural poverty alleviation; one should never be addressed at the other’ s
expense” (Gutman, 2001; p.9, para 1). The economics literature discussing policies
aimed at conservation and poverty, such as Community-based Forest Management
(CBFM), Joint Forest Management (JFM), and their predecessor Integrated ConservationDevelopment
Projects (ICDPs), emphasizes their failure to create incentives for
conservation by rural people (see Hughes and Flintan, 2001, for a literature review;
Behera and Engel, 2006; Ghimire, 1994; Johannesen, and Skonhoft, 2005; Ligon and
Narain, 1999; Muller and Albers, 2004; and Shyamsundar, 1996). Despite the lack of
well-established mechanisms to induce conservation through poverty alleviation projects
in and around parks, many parks have managers or NGOs implementing such projects,often with an emphasis on compensation for lost access to resources, poverty alleviation,
and generating goodwill. |
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