Failure of global economic mechanisms in biodiversity conservation

Conservation of biological resources faces an inequitable distribution of benefits and costs, with benefits primarily accruing at the national and international levels and costs accruing at the local level. The funding gap and inequitable distribution of benefits and costs are due to a complex array of government and market failures. These lead to the inability of economic conservation strategies to pay for themselves and thus lead ultimately to the loss of biological resources.

1. There are no culturally-appropriate financial mechanisms to bridge the gap between the private costs and benefits of biodiversity conservation at the local level and public benefits at national and global levels.

2. Biodiversity provides global services to humankind that are not captured and adequately recognized by current economic relations, patterns and policies.

1. Economic exploitation of biodiversity
2. Conflicting concepts of conservation

1. Undervaluation of natural capital
2. Lack on investment in biodiversity conservation
3. Lack of regional economic models for biodiversity conservation
4. Lack of private sector involvement in biodiversity conservation
5. Lack of community economic development models for biodiversity conservation
6. Exclusion of biodiversity factors in development planning

1. Lack of environmental funding

1. Sharing the benefits in biodiversity conservation
2. Restructuring existing biodiversity markets
3. Promoting sustainable use of biodiversity
4. Promoting multilateral framework agreements for benefit-sharing in biodiversity conservation
5. Promoting alternative perspectives of biodiversity
6. Integrating biodiversity concerns into economic development planning
7. Assessing impacts of trade policy on biodiversity conservation

1. Uneconomic
2. Nonglobalized
3. Failure
4. Conservative
5. Conservation