International Institute for Environment and Development 
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| International Institute for Environment and Development |
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Environmental Economics Project Summary |
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Theme: Markets for Environmental Services
Project name: Equitable Auctions for Wildlife Conservation Project purpose: This project aims to examine the experience with the use of auctions and tendering mechanisms to market wildlife products and services, as compared with direct negotiations. These types of mechanisms are Increasingly being used to market products such as ivory, caiman skins and vicuna fibre as well as hunting concessions. They have also begun to be used for environmental services such as carbon credits. Where there is lack of knowledge about the willingness to pay for such products, these mechanisms appear to offer a way to open up the market to competition. Yet the outcome of such mechanisms in terms of benefits to communities and incentives for conservation, is sometimes disappointing, because of poor design or strategic behaviour by the potential purchasers. The transaction costs involved may also seem considerable compared with direct negotiation. This review will be used to inform future auctions, for example the ivory auctions expected in 2004 in three southern African nations, and to build capacity in government ministries. Focus: A review of the literature on auctions, tendering and negotiation is being conducted. While the focus will be on their application to the marketing of wildlife products and natural resources more generally, lessons from their use in other sectors will also be examined. Some specific cases will be examined in more detail to draw out lessons from successes, eg., hunting concession auctions in Namibia, and failure, eg., caiman skin auctions in Venezuela. Progress to date: James MacGregor has reviewed the literature on auctions and has prepared an issues paper. This will be reviewed and then published as an EEP working paper. Together with Ivan Bond of IIED's Forestry and Land Use Programme, he James MacGregor has produced an opinion paper on pro-poor conservation and CITES published by IIED in collaboration with the Regional and International Networking Group (Ring). Partners and donors: Funding is provided by Danida. Further information: For more information on the project please contact James.MacGregor@iied.org.uk Copyright © 2005 International Institute for Environment and Development. |
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