This presentation introduces and outlines a proposal for conservation basic income (CBI) as a novel strategy for funding biodiversity conservation that moves beyond widely promoted market-based instruments (MBIs).
This CBI proposal responds to two important empirical developments. The first concerns growing discussions around cash transfer programs (CTPs) and universal basic income (UBI). These are increasingly implemented or piloted yet do not usually consider environmental issues including biodiversity conservation. The second relates to MBIs like payments for ecosystem services (PES) and REDD+ (reduced emissions through avoided deforestation and forest degradation).
In practice, these programs have not only commonly failed to halt biodiversity loss and alleviate poverty but have also largely abandoned their market-based origins, leading to calls for moving beyond market-based conservation entirely. The CBI proposal aims to integrate and transcend these existing mechanisms as part of a broader paradigm shift towards convivial conservation that foregrounds concern for social justice and equity.
Potential and pitfalls of the concept are illustrated through discussion of a new initiative intended to implement aspects of CBI in communities near two national parks in Rwanda.
This is a joint seminar between Conservation Labour (CONLAB) and Conflict Enclosures.
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