Land trusts that focus on biodiversity conservation should consider the impact of real estate market forces when acquiring land, according to a new study to be published in the March 13 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Without good data and an understanding of the laws of supply and demand, land trusts risk doing more harm than good for biodiversity, the authors say.

"Until recently, conservation buyers were a very small part of the land market--they didn't have much impact," says Gretchen Daily, professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and co-author of the study. "But now there are over 1,500 land trusts operating in the United States, and together they can change land prices and patterns of development."

The full or partial purchase of land has become a cornerstone of efforts to conserve biodiversity in countries with strong private property rights, the authors write, but harm arises when land trust activity elevates land prices and displaces development onto lands where conservation is needed.

"Land trusts have become so powerful that their collective purchases could actually backfire by drawing development toward sites with high conservation value," Daily explains. "Protecting lands that lack biodiversity is not only a waste of money but undermines future opportunities by increasing development pressure on unprotected lands."

Market feedbacks

For the study, lead author Paul Armsworth of Sheffield University, Peter Kareiva of The Nature Conservancy, James Sanchirico of Resources for the Future and Daily conducted an economic analysis of land-buying practices based on a variety of assumptions about where biodiversity resides. They found that market feedbacks can be especially worrisome if lands outside of nature reserves have considerable ecological value, and if there are developers keen to capitalize on amenities that result from conservation.

"
'"/>

Contact: Mark Shwartz
mshwartz@stanford.edu
650-723-9296
Stanford University
13-Mar-2006

Page: 1 2
Related biology news :

1. Desertification: UN experts prescribe global policy overhaul to avoid looming mass migrations
2. The eyes have it! How box jellyfish avoid banging into things
3. Winning by a neck -- Giraffes avoid competing with shorter browsers
4. Embryonic selection of sex avoids conceiving blind children
5. How to avoid a bat
6. Define precautionary principle to avoid clashes over biotechnology under World Trade rules
7. Elephants avoid costly mountaineering
8. How plants avoid feeling the burn
9. Heal thyself: Systems biology model reveals how cells avoid becoming cancerous
10. Female guppies risk their lives to avoid too much male attention
11. Altering genetic blueprint of receptors in brain could help stroke victims avoid brain damage