THE DOMESTIC BENEFITS OF TROPICAL FORESTS - A CRITICAL-REVIEW

Many forest conservation projects seek to preserve biodiversity by pro tecting bd habitats fr om exploitation or degradation. Although such e fforts are often motivated by global concerns, habitat protection also yields domestic benefits. Some of these are intangible or difficult t o quantify others, such as watershed protection and the production of nonforest timber products, are immediate and tangible. There are two r ationales for quantifying the domestic benefits of habitat conservatio n. The first is motivational Host countries capture only a small propo rtion of the global benefits which stem from biodiversity conservation . Demonstration of palpable local benefits could help to build support for biodiversity-oriented projects. Second, the magnitude of domestic benefits could influence project financing. Sufficiently large net do mestic benefits could justify financing of a project on narrow economi c grounds, with biodiversity conservation as a by-product. This review finds that the quantifiable benefits of forest preservation in provid ing hydrological services and nontimber forest products are highly var iable. Locally important in some situations, these classes of domestic benefits may in general be smaller than popularly supposed. This unde rscores the need for financing conservation;fi om the Global Environme ntal Facility or other global sources rather than placing the burden e ntirely on domestic resources.