Can economic costs be factored into conservation planning processes?

Society has been increasingly demanding of better environmental conservation practices as a solution to the ongoing crisis causing extreme weather events and biodiversity loss. Yet, a key issue for the definition of priority locations for protected areas that meet the intended conservation goals remains: how to factor and spatialize monetary costs in the goal-function of the planning for areas that better reflect the decision-making influences in the territory. We presented, in this study, the monetary acquisition costs for land purchasing and the opportunity costs for the Piracicaba, Capivari and Jundiaí watersheds. We adopt an approach derived from spatial analysis and remote sensing methodological processes to compile and link information tabulated from farmer assistance institutions with information on natural elements obtained through land use and land cover mapping. Subsequently, we merged data from the geospatial monetary matrix with exact-objects data obtained from the Operation Land Imager (OLI) multispectral sensor attached to the Landsat 8 satellite. Finally, we identified that the monetary costs for conservation actions in the study area have inverse values and that including them in the planning goal-function can help prioritize protected areas that will be less prone to conflict over land-use due to clashes with the economic activity of a territory.

Keywords: Opportunity Costs, Acquisition Costs, Protected Areas

Raul Reis Amorim