Wednesday, August 1, 2012

benefit sharing mechanisms : a Kenyan success story

Benefit sharing mechanisms is becoming a more and more important topic both in science and in political discourses. Benefit sharing mechanisms are used to "set the incentives right". This is when one agent does not have a personal interest is doing something or not doing something though it would actually contribute to a social benefit (benefit to others). Payment for ecosystem services is one way to implement benefit sharing mechanisms.
Whereas in the developed world, payment for ecosystems services are usually enforced by the government (an example of payment for environmental services are the voluntary agri- enviroental schemes), examples in the developing world are still rare.
Last week on Aljazeera I came across one amazing example in Kenya, where benefits from tourism is shared with pastoralists. A fund to which tourists contribute is made to pay pastoralist to not give there land for tourism activities and make sure that sufficient open space is maintained for wildlife. It is good example from Kenya on how one can share benefits and give pastoralists a secured income for preserving their land :

No comments:

Post a Comment