Wildlife harvest in integrated conservation and development projects: Linking harvest to household demand, agricultural production, and environmentalshocks in the Serengeti
Cb. Barrett et P. Arcese, Wildlife harvest in integrated conservation and development projects: Linking harvest to household demand, agricultural production, and environmentalshocks in the Serengeti, LAND ECON, 74(4), 1998, pp. 449-465
This paper develops a model coupling wildlife population dynamics to endoge
nous human consumption and poaching behavior in an environment of imperfect
labor and product markets and static agricultural production technology su
bject to environmental shocks. Using a model of the Serengeti wildebeest he
rd, we simulate how long an integrated conservation and development project
based on managed wildlife harvest might effectively delay biodiversity los
s by preempting poaching. Alternative interventions that more directly tack
le the problem of rime-varying returns to peasant agricultural labor appear
to offer more durable solutions to the challenge of wildlife conservation
in the midst of endemic rural poverty.