Status and future potential of payment schemes for wildlife conservation in Africa

This chapter is a review of Af rica’s 20 years experience in paym ents for biodiversity services. The multilateral, national policy, legislative and the theoretical underpinnings of market- based approaches have been discussed in relati on to some selected cases across Africa where buyers, sellers and intermediary organizations have been identified. This chapter builds upon the premise that when biodiversity is treated as a land use outside protected areas and communities recognized, rewarded or benefit by pursuing particular practices that enhance species diversity and ecosystem resilience, conservation business will be seen as a rewarding enterprise rather than a form of paternalistic approach constraining and limiting opportunities available for rural farmers to meet their live lihood needs as well as environmental goals. Over the years the state of ecosystems and thei r services (i.e. benef its freely obtained from nature such as watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, scenic beauty, greenhouse gas mitigation, nutrient cycling and retention) has deteriorated due to population growth and urbanization processes. Degradation processes have constraint environmental services valued by both local residents and external users. This has also been linked to the inability of rural communities in Africa meet the constituents of well-being: to be adequately nourished, remain healthy, consume safe drinking water, and most importantly, earn a secure livelihood. Paradoxically, man has been both an agent and a victim of ecosystems’ degradation. In response states have formulated and implemen ted stringent environmental laws, which have advanced segregative approaches with some ar eas used for intensive agriculture and other areas robed off for conservation. Initiatives have been biased towards promoting increased production of provisioning services 2 to meet increased per cap ita consumption and ignoring the potential value of those ecosystems as habitats for biodiversity. Recently there has been a shift of focus to forest related environmental services, biodiversity inclusive either because they are degraded or lost at unprecedented rates

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