Subsistence farming, poaching and ecotourism Social versus communal welfare maximization in wildlife conservation

Abstract:We develop a bio-economic model of open access land and wildlife exploitation, which is consistent with many farming and hunting societies living in close proximity to protected areas in developing countries. We investigate if, and to what extent, integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) such as non-invasive ecotourism, can increase both the level of habitat and wildlife conservation and the welfare of the local communities. We show that, although ecotourism increases the incentive to conserve habitat and wildlife, in general the socially optimal level of conservation cannot be achieved, because of externalities and information deficits. We show how a social planner can achieve the socially optimal level of habitat and wildlife conservation by a more encompassing tax/subsidy regime