Framework for affecting household behavior to promote biodiversity conservation

This paper provides a three-part framework for characterizing natural resource use by rural households: (1) a simple depiction of household decisionmaking which illustrates how external interventions can affect household behavior; (2) a detailed characterization of the limited number of ways in which one can affect household behavior to promote conservation; and (3) a review of considerations that are implicit in (1) and (2) but that may not be readily apparent to the reader. While the framework is developed in the context of the eastern rain forests of Madagascar, it is applicable to other regions of the world. Broadly speaking, conservationists must encourage households to reduce the amount of labor, capital, or natural resources allocated to activities that counter conservation goals. Five methods for redirecting allocation are presented: (1) develop alternative, less destructive activities for labor (e.g., tourguiding); (2) develop alternative uses of biological resources in their natural state; and (3) develop alternative uses for household capital (e.g., investment opportunities); (4) educate households in the benefits of biodiversity conservation; and (5) promote household preferences for conserving biodiversity. The report also examines in detail the household-level impacts of imperfect markets, the sociocultural aspects of production, government policy, relationships among production activities, and interactions among households. A case study is provided to demonstrate the difficulty of predicting a household"s response to a conservation project"s intervention. The report concludes by posing two questions to guide conservationists. (1) Which interventions are feasible? and (2) Which variables at the household and inter-household level will these interventions affect? The suggested rule of thumb is, if you cannot identify a very precise conceptual link between a proposed intervention and household decisionmaking, do not proceed with the intervention. Includes references.