Locating Tropical Biodiversity Conservation Amid Weak Institutions

Abstract

In this paper, we address the broad question of where to locate authority for tropical biodiversity conservation. In so doing, we advance four claims. First, the current fashion for CBNRM overreaches the indisputable place of local communities in tropical conservation efforts. An unfortunate irony of the current celebration of local authority is that it facilitates the abdication of global responsibility. Second, given variability in scale and institutional capability, hybrid designs involving multiple layers of nested institutions offer the most promise. Third, the greatest challenge to implementing such designs is the (often growing) weakness of existing tropical institutions at all levels. Fourth, rehabilitating such institutions, facilitating ongoing coordination among them, and introducing new institutional forms appropriate to particular conservation challenges will require, at both international and national levels, significant policy reorientations and greater commitments of financial and technical assistance.

JEL Classification: Q2, O1