Elephants or onions? Paying for nature in Amboseli, Kenya

Traditional grazing grounds near Amboseli National Park (Kenya) are being rapidly converted to cropland – a process that closes important wildlife corridors. We use a spatially explicit simulation model that integrates ecosystem dynamics and pastoral decision-making to explore the scope for introduc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bulte, E., Boone, R., Stringer, R., Thornton, Philip K.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Cambridge University Press 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/120016
Descripción
Sumario:Traditional grazing grounds near Amboseli National Park (Kenya) are being rapidly converted to cropland – a process that closes important wildlife corridors. We use a spatially explicit simulation model that integrates ecosystem dynamics and pastoral decision-making to explore the scope for introducing a ‘payments for ecosystem services’ scheme to compensate pastoralists for spillover benefits associated with forms of land use that are compatible with wildlife conservation. Our break-even cost analysis suggests that the benefits of such a scheme likely exceed its costs for a large part of the study area, but that ‘leakage effects’ through excessive stocking rates warrant close scrutiny.