With reference to India.

Economics of Protected Areas is a groundbreaking effort to help governments examine the costs and benefits of maintaining protected areas. The authors provide a methodology for assigning monetary values to nature and explain the economic techniques involved. They also show how officials have applied these principles worldwide.

Protected areas (PAs) contain biodiversity and ecosystems of high conservation value. In addition, these areas provide a range of benefits, both direct and indirect, to our societies and economies, i.e. so called ecosystem services. These services include, for example, an ecosystem's ability to regulate floods and climate, purify water, secure the pollination of crops, and create opportunities for recreation, culture and tourism. This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the socio-economic benefits of PAs and PA networks and provides step-by-step practical guidance on identifying, assessing and valuing the various ecosystem services and related benefits provided by PAs. It also aims to improve the communication of PA benefits to different stakeholders and the general public. It is shown that identifying and valuing the socio-economic benefits of PAs can be beneficial for several reasons. Demonstrating socio-economic importance of a protected site can significantly increase political and stakeholder support for the site and resolve conflicts between different interest groups. This can lead to positive changes in policies and decision-making. Insights on PA benefits are also needed to identify a combination of actions and land use practices that best support the sustainable and equitable utilisation of these benefits, while retaining a site’s conservation goals. Finally, demonstrating different benefits can help to discover alternative and sustainable sources for financing the management of PAs.

This book addresses the economic and policy issues involved in biodiversity protection. It brings together conceptual and empirical work on valuation, international agreements, the policy instruments, and the institutions.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study is a major international initiative drawing attention to local, national and global economic benefits of biodiversity, to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, the benefits of investing in natural capital, and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions. Drawing on a team of more than one hundred authors and reviewers, this book demonstrates the value of ecosystems and biodiversity to the economy, society and individuals. It underlines the urgency of strategic policy making and action at national and international levels, and presents a rich evidence base of policies and instruments in use around the world and a wide range of innovative solutions. It highlights the need for new public policy to reflect the appreciation that public goods and social benefits are often overlooked and that we need a transition to decision making which integrates the many values of nature across policy sectors. It explores the range of instruments to reward those offering ecosystem service benefits, such as water provision and climate regulation. It looks at fiscal and regulatory instruments to reduce the incentives of those running down our natural capital, and at reforming subsidies such that they respond to current and future priorities. The authors also consider two major areas of investment in natural capital - protected areas and investment in restoration. Overall the book underlines the needs and ways to transform our approach to natural capital, and demonstrates how we can practically take into account the value of ecosystems and biodiversity in policy decisions - at national and international levels - to promote the protection of our environment and contribute to a sustainable economy and to the wellbeing of societies.

In this volume of the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) publication series, the key concepts of the project are applied to local and regional policy and public management. The aim is to show that by taking nature's benefits into account, decision makers can promote local development to ensure human well-being and economic growth and stability, while maintaining environmental sustainability. The book explores the potential for local development provided by an approach based on nature. It offers examples of successful implementation of this approach from across the world, highlighting the importance of local decision making in management and planning. It provides tools and practical guidance for reform, and throughout the volume the economic benefits of environmental consideration at a local level are expounded. This book is intended to offer inspiration and practical suggestions for the improvement and sustainable management of the environment and human well-being. The local aspect of this book complements the focus of the previous three volumes, completing the set to provide a comprehensive approach to simultaneously improving and maintaining economic and environmental stability, as well as human well-being.

Charles Perrings and Ann Kinzig address the broad problem of conservation, the principles that inform conservation choices, and the application of those principles to the management of the natural world. Conservation examines how conservation choices are made and demonstrates how decisions of one person or one community at one time or place affect people or communities at other times or places.