Pastoralism and biodiversity conservation in the tropical north of Australia

[Extract] This chapter illustrates the potential role of PES in the tropical savannas in northern Australia. In many situations however, the protected area estate is insufficiently large and/or representative to safeguard biodiversity. Here, a more pluralistic approach is required which involves partnerships with other landholders, in particular farmers. While some farmers may be intrinsically motivated to conserve biodiversity on their land, systematic participation can be encouraged by providing farmers with financial incentives in the form of 'payments for environmental services' (PES).\ud \ud This chapter illustrates the situation for the tropical savannas in north Australia. It presents insights from empirical research which explores farmers' willingness to sign up to voluntary conservation agreements. The research employs a choice experiment as a way of gauging likely business decisions in the absence of observable market behaviour. Such research is vital for the design of conservation programs and tailoring of conservation contracts to a given context – after all, voluntary conservation programs only make a real contribution to the conservation effort if there is sufficient up-take by farmers, resulting in consolidated and systematic conservation effort