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Cost-effective species conservation: an application to Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus) in Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2007

CARLOS ADRIÁN SALDARRIAGA ISAZA ,
WALTER GÓMEZ BOFILL  and
HUGO SALGADO CABRERA
CARLOS ADRIÁN SALDARRIAGA ISAZA
Affiliation:
Escuela de Economía, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Campus Medellín), Calle 59A No. 63-20, Medellín, Colombia. Email: asaldarriaga@unalmed.edu.co
WALTER GÓMEZ BOFILL
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ingeniería Matemática, Universidad de La Frontera, Av. Francisco Salazar 1145, Temuco, Chile. Email: wgomez@ufro.cl
HUGO SALGADO CABRERA
Affiliation:
Departamento de Economía, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C Correo 3, Concepción, Chile. Email: husalgad@udec.cl
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Abstract

In this paper we study the cost-effective allocation of the land in the Cordilleran Protection Area (CPA), Region VIII, Chile, for the conservation of a highly threatened species: the Huemul (Hippocamelus bisulcus). Using a production possibilities frontier (PPF) approach, a linear programming optimization model for a ten-year time period is proposed. Our model takes into account both the preferences of the species for different habitats and the opportunity cost of the land. We evaluate different possibilities of land allocation and identify cost-effective alternatives in the provision of both conservation and income.

The results confirm the hypothesis that both the population of Huemul and income from economic activities can be increased compared with current levels. Therefore the current allocation of the land in the CPA is not cost-effective.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , August 2007 , pp. 535 - 551
Copyright
2007 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

We received valuable comments from two anonymous referees. Rodrigo López (CODEFF-Chile) and Juan Alarcón (CONAF-Chile), kindly helped us with information on Huemul and how to handle the GIS dataset, respectively. Carlos Saldarriaga acknowledges financial support from the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation.