Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.10.004
Title (Primary) Conserving biodiversity with tradable permits under changing conservation costs and habitat restoration time lags
Author Drechsler, M.; Hartig, F.
Source Titel Ecological Economics
Year 2011
Department OESA
Volume 70
Issue 3
Page From 533
Page To 541
Language englisch
Keywords Agent-based model; Biodiversity conservation; Environmental policy; Habitat restoration; Habitat turnover; Time lag; Tradable permits
Abstract Tradable permits are a common environmental policy instrument that has recently been applied also to the conservation of biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation differs in many respects to the classical applications of tradable permits like emissions control. One particularity is that, even if the permit system maintains a constant total amount of species habitat, habitat turnover (the destruction of a habitat and restoration elsewhere) affects the ecosystem. Another particularity is that the restoration of habitats often takes much time, leading to time lags between the initiation of restoration activities and the time when restored habitat is available for trading. We use an agent-based model of a tradable permit market to study the influence of heterogeneous and dynamic conservation costs and habitat restoration time lags on key variables of the market, such as the costs incurred to the market participants and the amount of habitat turnover. Our results show that there may be trade-offs between these key variables. We also find that restoration time lags can lead to fluctuations in permit prices that reduce the efficiency of the permit market. We conclude that temporal lags deserve a careful analysis when implementing tradable permit systems for the preservation of natural habitats and biodiversity.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=10739
Drechsler, M., Hartig, F. (2011):
Conserving biodiversity with tradable permits under changing conservation costs and habitat restoration time lags
Ecol. Econ. 70 (3), 533 - 541 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2010.10.004