Conserving and Valuing Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity: Economic, Institutional and Social Challenges

Description

This book comprehensively addresses the economic, social and institutional difficulties in conserving biodiversity and the ecosystem services that it provides. It covers a wide range of issues such as biodiversity, ecosystem services and valuation in the context of diverse ecosystems such as tropical forests, marine areas, wetlands and agricultural landscapes, non-timber forest products, incentives and institutions, payments for ecosystem services, governance, intellectual property rights and the protection of traditional knowledge, management of protected areas, and climate change and biodiversity. It also covers the application of environmental economics and institutional economics to different cases and the use of techniques such as contingent valuation method and game theory. The book spans the globe with case studies drawn from a cross section of regions and continents including the UK, US, Europe, Australia, India, Africa and South America.

K. N. Ninan is Professor of Ecological Economics at the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India, and Visiting Professor, Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. Dr Ninan has also been a Visiting Professor or Fellow at the University of Tokyo, Japan, Institute of Developing Economies, Tokyo, Japan, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK, University of Versailles, France, Maison Des Sciences De L'Homme, Paris, France, and University of Tokushima, Japan. He is also the author of The Economics of Biodiversity Conservation: Valuation in Tropical Forest Ecosystems (Earthscan, 2007).

'This book addresses the economic, institutional and social challenges facing scientists and policy makers in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical for sustaining human well-being and development' CTA Spore 'What is refreshing is that although there are some examples from Europe and North America, most chapters focus on case studies from underdeveloped countries like Laos, Kenya, India, Philippines and Cameroon.' David Walton, British Ecological Society, 2010