Published September 25, 2013
by asavatti
Call for Papers
Environmental Conservation Themed Issue on
Tradable Rights in Conservation
Market-based mechanisms such as biodiversity credits, offsets, tradable harvest quotas and environmental water traders, are increasingly being applied in conservation policy. Designing, implementing and evaluating such markets requires insights from across a range of disciplines, such as ecology, geography, economics and the social sciences. There is a clear need for interdisciplinary research to support such markets, but most of the academic literature remains within disciplinary boundaries. There are also opportunities to share insights between domains, such as between terrestrial biodiversity offset schemes and tradable fishery quotas.
The aim of this thematic issue is to provide a forum for papers which can inform the design of conservation trading policy mechanisms. The focus is on markets in which conservation-related rights (e.g. harvest quotas, biodiversity offsets, etc., but not carbon, pollution, etc.) are traded among different users, rather than purchased by a single buyer (as is the case in most “payment for ecosystem service”-type schemes). Papers drawing lessons from past and present schemes which are relevant to other issues and regions are of particular interest, as are papers which cross disciplinary boundaries.
Potential topics include, but are certainly not limited to:
- What evidence is there on the effectiveness of offset schemes – do they conserve biodiversity or simply streamline development?
- How can equivalence be established in offset schemes? How to deal with time lags, uncertainty and spatial interdependencies? How is the baseline, above which offsets are awarded, determined?
- How can multiple species be incorporated? What are the pros and cons of broad vs narrow coverage?
- How can conservation requirements be addressed in existing markets? For example, how effective are ‘environmental water’ traders within irrigation water markets?
- How can harvest quota markets work across jurisdictional boundaries? Can other environmental impacts be incorporated?
- What evidence is there of the applicability of tradable quotas beyond fisheries?
- How do resource users view tradable rights? What proves necessary to secure the support of users? What are the similarities, and differences, between users of different resources?
- How can conservation markets incorporate new scientific information or social preferences, and respond to environmental disturbances?
Priority for the special issue will be given to empirical papers, but theoretical work will also be considered. Environmental Conservation always welcomes the submission of novel and rigorous science relevant to environmental policy issues, so any submissions which do not fit within the special issue will (with the authors’ permission) be considered for publication in a regular issue.
Managing Editor: Andrew Reeson, CSIRO, Australia (Andrew.Reeson@csiro.au )
Submission Guidelines
Only original and unpublished high-quality papers are considered and manuscripts must be in English. Instructions for Authors can be found at http://tiny.cc/iv6kg and papers must be submitted via the journal web submission route (http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/envcon). You must provide a cover letter to indicate that the submission is for the “Tradable Rights in Conservation” theme. If this is not supplied, the submission is late, or if too many/insufficient papers are accepted for a particular theme, they may be published by the journal as regular submissions. All papers will be submitted to a rigorous peer-review process and the fact that they submitted to a themed issue (solicited or not) does not guarantee acceptance.
Important Dates
Manuscript submission deadline: 31st January 2014, Publication of themed issue: Late 2014 (TBC)
Posted in: Opportunities | Research
