Description

Conservation concessions are a tool to make resource protection and development objectives compatible. Using this approach, government or local resources users are regularly given compensation by conservation donors in exchange for protecting the ecosystem, thus alleviating the economic pressures to exploit and degrade the ecosystem. The following are components of a conservation concession agreement:

– The amount of payments intended to compensate for setting an area aside or foregoing specific uses;

– Duration of the concession agreement; – The investment portfolio where these payments will be directed, and; – Norms and guidelines for monitoring and enforcing natural resource protection. Benefits and disadvantages of Conservation concessions are discussed, and next steps are suggested. An annex provides examples of current and potential projects implementing conservation concessions.