Description

This article discusses different approaches to biodiversity conservation, advocating for the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of direct payments over indirect payments. It is important to consider not only the theoretical differences but also the lessons revealed from implementation of both direct and indirect approaches. There are multiple options for financing conservation; innovative approaches are not necessarily better than more traditional financing methods. Although conservation schemes that promise more leverage for less money sound appealing, they likely will not deliver the expected outcomes. There is a cost to conserving biodiversity and, with few exceptions, the most cost-effective conservation is through direct payments.

Reprinted in Resources for the Future Reader in Environmental Policy and Resource Management (2006), 2nd edition, edited by Wallace E Oates. Resources for the Future Press, Washington DC, pp.163-170.