Browsing by Author "WCS"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Cambodia: Paying local people to protect crane nests
    WCS (2007-12-05)
    The WCS Office in Cambodia, at Preah Vihear has implemented a scheme of direct incentives for waterbird conservation as part of the overall conservation program of WCS Cambodia. Preah Vihear is globally important for its populations of at least six globally threatened large waterbirds: two ibis species (Pseudibis gigantea and Pseudibis davisoni), rare Greater Adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius), in addition to colonies of Lesser Adjutants (Leptoptilos javanicus), Black-necked (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) and Woolly-necked Storks (Ciconia episcopus) and Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone). All these large waterbirds are threatened by human disturbance and collection of nesting sites. Sarus Cranes, for example, are known to fetch a high market price (more than the equivalent of US $100 per bird in Thailand). The collection is mostly done by local communities, who sell the chicks on to cross-border traders.
  • Lao PDR: Incentive payments for Eld's deer conservation in Savannakhet Province
    WCS (2007-12-05)
    The rare Eld's deer (Cervus eldi siamensis), which was only recently discovered to still inhabit the open dipterocarp forest in Savannakhet Province of Lao PDR are threatened by the activities of nearby. WCS and the Smithsonian Institution (SI) initiated a "payments for conservation" scheme in 2003, with the aim of reducing threats to the deer and increasing the size of the deer population. Villagers were asked to: 1) reduce or stop hunting, (2) maintain habitat, and (3) be involved in conservation of Eld's deer. According to the agreement, WCS Laos paid an annual cash incentive (initially US$300, increased to US$450 in the second and third years) to each of three villages located close to a population of the endangered Eld's Deer in central-southern Laos in return for a reduction in threats to deer (though no criteria were set for how performance would be measured).
  • Russia: Linking community development and biodiversity conservation in the Russian Far East
    WCS (2007-12-13)
    The WCS Russia office uses a relatively indirect, market-based incentive strategy to achieve conservation goals, by developing a certification scheme for tiger-friendly non-timber forest products. The Russian Far East provides habitat for the only viable population of Siberian, or Amur tigers (Panthera tigris altaica) in the world. Approximately 330-370 adult Siberian or Amur tigers are left in the wild, with 95% of these animals in the Russian Far East. The area has a unique assemblage of large carnivores, which includes tigers, brown bears, Asiatic black bears, wolves, wolverine, and Eurasian lynx. Living in northern temperate forests of low productivity, and hence low prey density, these tigers require large tracts of land to survive. Even under the most optimistic scenarios for habitat protection, it is unlikely that sufficient area will be protected to ensure conservation of Amur tigers in the long term. Therefore, managing habitat outside protected areas (in multiple-use areas) is a key issue in Amur tiger conservation efforts. Primary threats to tigers are: 1) habitat loss from intensive logging and development; 2) depletion of the prey base; and, 3) poaching of tigers (for their fur and for body parts that are used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, and because they are perceived as a threat to domestic livestock, dogs, and hunters' prey populations). The large majority of tiger deaths are human-caused, mostly due to poaching by hunters.
  • Tanzania: Paying local communities not to convert grasslands to crops
    WCS (2007-12-05)
    In Tanzania, villages receive communal economic benefits for maintaining traditional pastoral activities on grazing lands rather than converting these grasslands to arable agriculture.
  • Zambia: Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO)
    WCS (2007-12-13)
    In Zambia's Luangwa Valley, WCS is encouraging farmers to use wildlife-friendly practices through a rural development model called Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO). Although not a very direct incentive scheme (it pays for biodiversity-friendly activities, not conservation results), it is an example of economic incentives that clearly tie wildlife conservation to improved livelihoods.