Why do ICDPs Fail? The Relationship Between Agriculture, Hunting and Ecotourism in Wildlife Conservation

Abstract

We analyze why integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) fail to achieve their conservation goals. We develop a bio-economic model of open access habitat and wildlife exploitation, which is consistent with farming and hunting societies living in close proximity to forest reserves in developing countries. We show that the ICDP creates incentives to conserve habitat and wildlife, but socially optimal levels of conservation cannot be achieved, because of externalities among the local communities. We show how a social planner can achieve the socially optimal levels of habitat and wildlife by a more encompassing tax subsidy regime.

Keywords: bio-economic modelling, competing land-use, ecotourism, integrated conservation and development projects, poaching, wildlife and habitat conservation

JEL Classification: Q56, O13, H23