The transferability of strategies for promoting a sustainable harvest of sea turtle eggs in Latin America: applying ecological economics in a Guatemalan coastal community
This paper examines the transferability of strategies for promoting a sustainable harvest of sea turtle eggs in Latin America. The ARCAS South Coast Project in Guatemala's Hawaii Marine Reserve is used as a case study for the practical applications of ecological economics in manipulating the economic incentives which drive the market for sea turtle eggs. The high demand for sea turtle eggs, the low cost of harvesting them, and their nature as an opened-access resource have resulted in complete harvesting of virtually all sea turtle eggs laid on Guatemala's beaches - a clearly unsustainable practice which can only lead to the extinction of the local nesting population. The structure of economic incentives surrounding the exploitation of sea turtle eggs is explicated for the purpose of clarifying the angles from which these incentives can be manipulated. A variety of economic strategies used in other areas of Latin America and the Caribbean are evaluated according to their potential for transforming Guatemala's equilibrium of extinction in to a sustainable harvest. Incentive manipulation techniques evaluated include the present strategies for encouraging donations to a hatchery (Guatemala), as well as monopoly (Ostional, Costa Rica), moratorium (Costa Rica), mariculture (Reunion and the Caiman Islands), hiring of poachers (Brazil), indirect purchasing of eggs through a "turtle barter market" (El Salvador), ecotourism (Costa Rica), "turtle-safe eggs", adopt-a-nest, and a conservation tournament. Prominent realms for manipulating these incentives are resource access, market demand, cllection costs, and conservation benefits (including who benefits and who pays). The strategies exhibiting the highest degree of transferability include strategies which aim to raise the cost of egg collection by increasing collectors' opportunity costs and those which enlist the beneficiaries of non-consumptive use values, existence values and option values of sea turtles to help cover the costs of conservation efforts.
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | biblioteca |
| Published: |
San José (Costa Rica)
1994
|
| Subjects: | TORTUGAS MARINAS, HUEVOS, SOSTENIBILIDAD, MERCADEO, COMUNIDADES RURALES, AMERICA LATINA, GUATEMALA, |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|