"Latin America and the Caribbean; A Biodiversity Superpower" is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  Marlon Flores, Senior Policy Advisor at Ecologic Institute, contributed the chapter on "Protected Areas" to the initiative's report "Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Economic Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Economic Valuation of Ecosystems".

The Latin American and Caribbean region has one of the greatest endowments of natural capital in the world, which is a source of economic growth and has the potential to become the world leader in offering the services its ecosystems and biodiversity provide , and in return receive new benefits from this  conservation and sustainable management. The new policies recommended in the publication promise to transform the traditional model of development — one that often disregards environmental costs — into a new paradigm that recognises the value of services provided by healthy, fully functioning ecosystems.

The Report aims to inform policy makers and businesses in the Latin American and Caribbean region about the economic risks and opportunities of undertaking productive activities that impact on and are influenced by biodiversity and ecosystem services. The Report is a tool to assist governments and stakeholders in analyzing the role of ecosystem services in order to incorporate these services into economic planning, policy and investment at the sectoral level.

In his chapter on "Protected Areas", Marlon Flores, Senior Policy Advisor of Ecologic Institute, assesses the evidence on the contribution of Protected Areas to the wider economy and contrasts this against the current status of financing for Protected Areas in Latin America and Caribbean.

Protected Areas have cross-cutting effects. They contribute to the economies of Latin American and Caribbean countries through each of the other sectors reviewed in the book: agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism, and hydrological services. Marlon Flores' chapter relates the varied functions of Protected Areas and of the ecosystem services they support to productive processes in each of those sectors. The chapter also compares the effects of contrasting management regimes — from not managed to minimally-managed and well-managed — on the cross-cutting contributions of Protected Areas.

The chapter illustrates how Protected Areas contribute to sustain ecosystem services and examines the potential decline in productivity due to the degradation of ecosystems as a consequence of under-investment in Protected Areas. To this end, three scenarios are considered: a “not protected” scenario, in which habitats are not safeguarded and, thus, likely to be degraded; a “business as usual” scenario, where basic Protected Area protection is available but can mitigate only low level threats; and a “sustainable ecosystems management” scenario, with sufficient funding to support comprehensive, cost-effective Protected Area system management plans. In the case of sustainable ecosystems management, threats are fully managed (mitigated), and new business opportunities may be created in areas like eco-certification, sustainable sourcing, and novel ecosystem services.

Growing evidence indicates that the economic benefits of well-managed Protected Areas are multiple: increased production (GDP) in selected sectors, more jobs in rural areas, higher tax revenues, and higher foreign exchange earnings, especially though international tourism. Additional sectors can be affected as a result of economic ripple or multiplier effects.

This initiative has been sponsored by UNDP in partnership with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD Secretariat) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and with the generous support from the government of Spain.

Further Links:

• Ecologic Institute Project:The social dimension of biodiversity policy
• Ecologic Institute Project: Market-Based Instruments for Ecosystem Services
• Ecologic Institute Project: Land and Ecosystem Degradation and Desertification: Assessing the Fit of Responses (LEDDRA)
• News: Ecologic Institute in the International Year of Biodiversity 2010
• UNDP report: The Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Economic Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An economic valuation of ecosystem

Keywords: Protected Areas, PA Management, BAU, SEM, Agriculture, Irrigation, Wild Genetic Resources, Fisheries, Forests, Deforestation, Taxes, Carbon Storage, nature-based Tourism, Job Creation, Income, Tax Revenues, Multiplier Effect, NBT, PAS, Tourism, Human Settlements, Potable Water, Disaster Mitigation, Hydropower, Drinkable Water, Mitigation, Poverty, Benefits

Citation: Flores, Marlon 2010: "Protected Areas", in: A. Bovarnick; F. Alpizar and C. Schnell (eds.): The Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Economic Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An economic valuation of ecosystem. New York: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 203-237.
Author: Marlon Flores
Year: 2010
Published in: Bovarnick, A., F. Alpizar, C. Schnell, Editors. The Importance of Biodiversity and Ecosystems in Economic Growth and Equity in Latin America and the Caribbean: An economic valuation of ecosystem, United Nations Development Programme, 2010.
Editors: Andrew Bovarnick, Francisco Alpizar, Charles Schnell
Pages: 203 - 237
Language: English and Spanish
Publisher: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Place (of publisher): New York
Reference type: Book section
Price: free of charge
Table of contents:

• 10.1 Introduction
  • Key findings
• 10.2 Context of Protected Areas
  • Protected Areas
  • Threats to Protected Areas
  • Insufficient Funding to Cover the Costs of PA Management
• 10.3 BAU and SEM in Protected Areas
  • Defining BAU and SEM
  • Differences in the BAU and SEM management approaches
• 10.4 Importance of Protected Areas to Growth: Benefits and Costs under BAU and SEM
  • Agriculture
  • Irrigation
  • Wild Genetic Resources
  • Fisheries
  • Forests
  • Trade-offs between BAU and SEM in Forrest Resource Management
  • Reduction of Deforestation
  • Forest Concessions and Taxes
  • Carbon Storage
  • Nature-based Tourism
  • Job Creation and Income
  • Tax Revenues
  • Foreign Exchange Earnings
  • The Multiplier Effect of NBT
  • Financing to PAS
  • Private PAS
  • Negative Impacts of Tourism (BAU Practices)
  • Human Settlements (Potable Water, Disaster Mitigation, Hydropower)
  • Drinkable Water
  • Disaster Mitigation and Prevention
  • Hydropower
• 10.5 Importance of Protected Areas to Equity and Poverty Reduction
  • Economic Benefits
• Political and Social Benefits
  • Are PA Objective Compatible with Poverty Reduction
• 10.6 Conclusions and Recommendations
  • Conclusions
  • The Transition from BAU to SEM is feasible
  • Barriers to the Transition from BAU to SEM for PAs Are Significant
  • Growing Biodiversity and Ecosystems Markets Can Provide Significant Benefits to Business
  • PAs Drive Foreign Excgange Earnings and Local Employment. Especially via Tourism
  • The Benefits of PAs Are not Equally Distributed
  • PAs under SEM Can Contribute to Equity and Poverty Alleviation
  • Economic Benefits from PAs and Cost Reductions from SEM Justify Including Externalities
  • SEM Secures High Quality and Quantity of Water Resources from PAs. Indispensable to Maintining Production Levels and Savings in Irrigated Agriculture, Hydropower and Potable Water
  • Hydropower: SEM Can Secure Sufficient Water Flow and Savings (Avoided Replacement Costs) in Hydropower Dam Operations
  • Marine and Freshwater Protected Areas Contribute to Growth Through Biodiversity Conservation
  • Recommendations
  • Research and Information Management
  • PA Policy and Finance
  • Institutional (Public and Private)
• Annexes
  • Annex 10.1. Threats to Freshwater Ecosystems and the Possibility of Prevention by Protected Areas
  • Annex 10.2. PAs and Crop Genetic Diversity in Selected LAC Countries
  • Annex 10.3. IUCN Protected Area Management Categories