Swiss study shows that paying people to conserve biodiversity pays off

[UngulateNerd92]

The government reimburses farmers for conserving country’s tremendous plant diversity.

Picture the mountain meadows of the Swiss Alps, and you probably think of wildflowers—purple bellflowers, crocuses that peek through the snow, and of course, star-like edelweiss. Flowers and other plants thrive in the varying altitudes and climate pockets provided by the Alps—but keeping them growing takes careful management. How to ensure the fields of Switzerland stay full of nutrient cycling sedges, pollinator-attracting saxifrages, and singalong-inspiring blooms?

One method: Pay people to take care of them. Swiss farmers are part of a government program that reimburses them for overseeing certain parts of their property in ways that promote biodiversity. And a study published recently in the journal Biodiversity and Conservation shows that it works—these segments, known as Biodiversity Promotion Areas (BPAs), are more diverse, and more likely to harbor species of concern, than their more heavily-managed counterparts.

Swiss study shows that paying people to conserve biodiversity pays off

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Keep in mind though that this is Switzerland and the Swiss government is one of the richest in the world.

How well would such a scheme work in terms of feasibility in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean or indeed even in Eastern Europe?

 

[UngulateNerd92]

Keep in mind though that this is Switzerland and the Swiss government is one of the richest in the world.

How well would such a scheme work in terms of feasibility in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean or indeed even in Eastern Europe?

That is a fair question. My first thought is not very likely, but I feel like something might be possible. The question is where will the money come from and how will it be sourced if those governments can't afford biodiversity subsidies if you will.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

That is a fair question. My first thought is not very likely, but I feel like something might be possible. The question is where will the money come from and how will it be sourced if those governments can't afford biodiversity subsidies if you will.

Yes, I do agree in principle but with the world already entering an economic depression this may not materialize.

Having said that and on this topic, Biden is now president and with that one US election Bolsonaro is already in deep s*** with what he is doing to the Amazon and deforestation rates.

It doesn't seem like he is taking the news very well though. I don't know if you have heard this yet but Bolsonaro actually said in an interview yesterday that he would threaten war with the USA because of Biden.

 

[Dassie rat]

Bolsonaro would be daft (if he wasn't already; a Brazilian woman warned me about him before the Brazilian election) to attack the USA. The USA would win a war, as well as causing even more destruction to the Amazon

 

[Jurek7]

Keep in mind though that this is Switzerland and the Swiss government is one of the richest in the world.

How well would such a scheme work in terms of feasibility in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean or indeed even in Eastern Europe?

This article concerns only one specific type of conservation: farmland in very specific conditions.

In Eastern Europe, if you mean 12 more recent EU members, there are similar but smaller payments for biodiversity funded from the EU central budget.

I have personally rather mixed opinion. These schemes often fail to maintain even this narrow biodiversity for which they were designed (specific plant communities, plant or animal species). I think, in the longer perspective, it would be best to pay people to relocate to cities and other business and stop farming remote and lower quality land. And stop enroachment to places yet undeveloped. Both for wildlife and for rural people, who are always worse off in rural regions. Rural people are never living as well as in cities, although they receive additional subsidies for farming, school, roads, transport etc. etc. But there are really different interests, politicians from rural areas would not see their voters move somewhere else.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Bolsonaro would be daft (if he wasn't already; a Brazilian woman warned me about him before the Brazilian election) to attack the USA. The USA would win a war, as well as causing even more destruction to the Amazon

Yes, he is a total ***** indeed.

I don't think Bolsonaro would actually want to start a war but wants to appear "tough".

This kind of rhetoric of his nearly always mirrors that of Trump who he has conciously styled himself on.

Now that Trump has lost the election and is contesting the votes in such a public way Bolsonaro has been further emboldened.

 

[Ned]

rurall people are never living as well as in city.

I think a lot of rural people would disagree.

 

[birdsandbats]

How much longer will Bolsonaro be president, and how likely is he to get the office again?


Concerning the main topic of this thread, I always thought that if countries would provide tax benefits for planting native plants that would go a long way.

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

How much longer will Bolsonaro be president, and how likely is he to get the office again?


Concerning the main topic of this thread, I always thought that if countries would provide tax benefits for planting native plants that would go a long way.

Unfortunately, I can't give a definitive answer to that but lets just say his reputation here in Brazil and abroad has taken an absolute pummeling.

Now with Biden in the Whitehouse the game has changed drastically. Even the right here in Brazil are overwhelmingly in agreement that Bolsonaro and his sons have to go.

Hopefully in terms of the Amazon pressure will be being applied on the regime here in Brazil very soon.

 

[Dassie rat]

Elections in Brazil - Wikipedia says that Brazilian presidents have a 4 year rule before the next election. Bolsonaro is about half way through his current, and hopefully last, reign

 

[Onychorhynchus coronatus]

Elections in Brazil - Wikipedia says that Brazilian presidents have a 4 year rule before the next election. Bolsonaro is about half way through his current, and hopefully last, reign

Yes, but he has in the past expressed plans to stand for a re-election and remember this is someone who believes in dictatorship and whose greatest hero is according to his own words Pinochet.

Hopefully it will be his last reign though, fingers crossed.

 

[Dassie rat]

I can understand the logic of the Swiss proposal. I visited the Andasibe Reserve in Madagascar and saw and heard the indris. In the afternoon, my guide took me to a reserve nearby. He showed me an area of felled trees and said that the warden didn't get much money to feed his family. He was offered more money to allow some trees to be felled.

On a financial level, if people are poor and starving, they don't have the time to wait for any meagre returns from conservation. Therefore, governments should ensure that the people are better off by preserving wild habitats than they would be by letting the habitats be destroyed.

Due to the coronavirus, the level of tourism has fallen rapidly in Madagascar this year. This has led to more deforestation in reserves. Despite financial problems in much of the world, the amount of money usually generated by tourism in Madagascar is relatively low in global terms. The ultimate cost to Madagascar in losing the forests is far higher.