Integrating Economics into Priority Setting and Evaluation in Conservation Management

: To protect the world's threatened and endangered species, it is necessary that appropriate tools be available to assist decision-makers in achieving their conservation management goals. We examine the range of approaches used in priority setting and evaluation in conservation management by reviewing the conservation, economic, and environmental policy literature on the evaluation of conservation efforts. We then identify the circumstances under which these approaches are applied, assess the strengths and weaknesses of their use, and make suggestions for the further inclusion of economic factors in priority setting and evaluation. We found two major areas where evaluation and prioritization occur in conservation management: the initial prioritization for conservation action and the eventual evaluation of project and program effectiveness. The two main questions considered to date are (1) What and where are the priority areas or species that require conservation management? and (2) How effective are different management interventions and techniques in the conservation of areas and species? Because neither question addresses the need for measures that compare outputs or considers the costs of management, the full range of costs involved in making informed choices is not considered properly. We argue that decision-makers need to ask (1) Where should scarce resources be invested in conservation management? and (2) Which investments in conservation management have been the most successful? To answer these questions, decision-makers need to use cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-utility analysis to improve the conservation of threatened and endangered species. Resumen: Para proteger las especies amenazadas y en peligro, es necesario que las herramientas apropiadas esten disponibles para asistir a los tomadores de decisiones en lograr sus metas de gestion de conservacion. Examinamos un rango de aproximaciones utilizadas en la definicion de prioridades y la evaluacion de la gestion de la conservacion mediante la revision de la literatura de politicas de conservacion, economia y ambientales sobre evaluacion de esfuerzos de conservacion. Posteriormente identificamos las circunstancias bajo las cuales se aplican estas aproximaciones, evaluamos las fortalezas y debilidades de su utilizacion, y hacemos sugerencias para la posterior inclusion de factores economicos en la definicion de prioridades y evaluacion. Encontramos dos areas principales en las que ocurren la evaluacion y priorizacion en la gestion de la conservacion: la priorizacion inicial para acciones de conservacion y la eventual evaluacion de la efectividad del proyecto y del programa. A la fecha, las dos principales preguntas consideradas son (1) ?Cuales son y donde estan las areas prioritarias o especies que requieren gestion de conservacion? y (2) ?Que tan efectivas son las diferentes intervenciones y tecnicas de gestion en la conservacion de areas y especies? Debido a que ninguna pregunta atiende la necesidad de medidas que comparen resultados ni considera los costos de gestion, el rango total de costos involucrados en la toma de decisiones informadas no se considera apropiadamente. Argumentamos que los tomadores de decisiones necesitan preguntar ?Donde se deberan invertir los escasos recursos para la gestion de conservacion? y ?Cuales inversiones en gestion de conservacion han sido mas exitosas? Para responder estas preguntas los tomadores de decisiones deben utilizar el analisis de costo-efectividad y el analisis de costo-utilidad para ayudar a mejorar la conservacion de especies amenazadas y en peligro de extincion.

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