Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in

Transcript:Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in:
Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Economic Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Economic Valuation of Ecosystems UNDP Latin America and the Caribbean: A Biodiversity Super Power Basic facts on the Report’s methodology A sectoral analysis based Report Cross-cutting areas Sectoral ES benefits provided by Protected Areas –as a cross-cutting area Relations amongst ecosystem services (ES) and other inputs, production practices and sectoral outputs Production practices Sectoral outputs negative positive Source: A. Bovarnick Approach to Ecosystem Services (ES) and Biodiversity On the methodological approach to ES ES under SEM and BAU An example in agriculture might be the difference in farm yields with the application of organic compost in a SEM agroforestry context versus yields using chemical fertilizer in similar situations (e.g., hillside farming) under BAU On comparing the available evidence for many countries on the costs and benefits of these different production practices the Report has noted that, in those cases where a full accounting is made, the net benefits are, on average, consistently greater for the SEM practice On BAU and SEM methodology The BAU and SEM concepts enable the approximate capture of ES value over time –to infer that ES of some sort are operating at a level that permit additional production (over BAU) or lower costs Figure 2.2 shows the hypothesis that under BAU, net revenues decline over time, while those of SEM may start lower but remain constant or rise. This leads to a point at which SEM replaces BAU as the optimal management approach. Biodiversity and ecosystem’s role in sectoral growth in LAC: Agriculture (I) Biodiversity and ecosystem’s role in sectoral growth in LAC: Agriculture (II) SEM can harness ES and provide higher returns to farmers than more traditional farming systems The ecological benefits associated with agroforestry include carbon sequestration, biodiversity protection, soil improvements, crop pollination and water provision World Bank study on agroforestry systems across Central America (Current et al. 1995): Profitability is dependent on the site resources and markets Of the 21 systems analyzed, 40% had significantly higher returns than traditional systems. One agroforestry system had a net present value (NPV) of $2,863/ha (over 10 years, 1992 values) compared to $1,423/ha for contour planting and $764/ha for woodlots Only 10% performed less well than traditional systems However in this and other SEM agricultural systems incentives and technical assistance are usually needed to promote uptake, since returns can lag