Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective GROW Colombia Project Report 2 Socio-Economics of Biodiversity Programme OctoberMarch 20202020 GROW COLOMBIA PROJECT SERIES Authors Silvia Ferrini Biodiversity Kerry Turner Jaime Erazo Corrado Di Maria Valeria Toledo-Gallegos Natalia Valderrama Protection Sylvia Schlesinger Federica Di Palma – Principal Investigator This QR code links to the GROW Colombia website where you can download This report should be cited as: this document and other in Colombia: Ferrini, S. et al., 2020. Biodiversity protection resources of the project. in Colombia: An Economic Perspective. Report 2. GROW Colombia Project Series. GROW Colombia Project UKRI GCRF Grant BB/P028098/1. Norwich, UK. An Economic Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge support from the UK Research and Perspective Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) GROW Colombia grant via the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/P028098/1). Research support: James Richardson, GROW Colombia Project Report 2 Ana Bossa, Saskia Hervey, Sasha Stanbridge, Juan Azcárate. Operations support: Richard Doyle. Editorial Design: David Alejandro Reina Caviedes and Carolina Gómez Andrade. Copyrights: Attribution (CC BY) Socio-Economics of This work, with the exception any content marked with a separate copyright notice, is licensed under a Creative Commons Biodiversity Programme Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). With this licence you can distribute, remix, tweak, October 2020 and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as you credit the original creation. To see the complete licence visit https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ © Copyright 2020 – The Authors. Please use cited reference shown above. Photography © Shutterstock.com and their respective authors, unless stated otherwise. For further information, please contact: GROW Colombia Project Phone: +49 (0) 1603 450001 Email: [email protected] Website: www.growcolombia.org ISBN Digital 978-1-9163470-3-8 Funders ISBN Print 978 1 9163470 2 1 https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13049810.v1 BRIDGE October 2020 Sustainable Content 1 tourism pg. 28 Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective / Report 2 April 2020 Sustainable cacao production: consumers’ demand 2 and farmers’ pg. 46 production options pg. 08 Executive Summary Sustainable 3 cattle ranching pg. 66 pg. 12 Introduction pg. 82 References Executive Summary Executive Summary ROW Colombia is a four socio-economic team. Building on Gyear bioscience research the environmental change scoping and capacity building project to analysis in Report 1 (Turner et al preserve, restore and manage 2020), this second report focuses biodiversity through responsible on the possible policy response to innovation in Colombia. This the challenges and opportunities multidisciplinary initiative is faced by countries like Colombia funded by the UK Government’s in the 21st century. The corona Global Challenge Research Fund virus pandemic, in particular, will and involves a wide, international have widescale and profound collaboration of academic and civil consequences for both national society partners united in a shared economies and societies as well vision to conserve biodiversity, as the global economy. So future achieve sustainable prosperity economic and wellbeing recovery and secure lasting peace in and progress will be even more Colombia. The project has a dependent on carefully selected strong socio-economic component public sector investments within involving the Earlham Institute, a reduced overall budgetary University of Sydney, Humboldt spend. While spending will Institute, Natural History Museum, necessarily be focused on short Universidad de Los Andes and led term needs in the immediate by the University of East Anglia. aftermath of the pandemic, medium to longer term green This report is the second in a investment requirements should series from GROW Colombia’s not be ‘crowded out’ altogether. Photo: Alexander Velasquez-Valencia Alexander Photo: 9 GROW Colombia Project / Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective October 2020 Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective / Report 2 The development strategy and benefits vital for future human It is the case that valuing nature is and non-monetary valuation implementation measures (green livelihoods and prosperity. a multidimensional concept and methods and techniques. investments) we advocate are To implement a transition the assigned values are plural i.e. guided by a vision of the future towards green development nature in all its aspects means The more detailed analysis economy based on sustainability objectives, a macro (i.e. whole different things to different people of a potential policy switch principles, a so-called ‘Circular economy) economic policy, and communities. So, while we to foster the bio-economy in Economy’ with low carbon based on green investments, is recognise that not all aspects of Colombia will be focused on characteristics. The basic aim of proposed. The green investments nature can be assigned monetary three broad policy areas: this approach is to minimise, as (projects, policies and courses of values we argue that as many as far as is feasible, the throughput action) can provide an economic possible should be valued in this 1. An examination of ecotourism of matter and energy in the multiplier effect, which will way to avoid zero value status. opportunities, both from the economy (i.e the amounts of help create new business and market demand (national raw materials and energy we employment opportunities. Policymaking inevitably involves and international) side use to produce and consume choices and trade-offs. Green and the supply side; all the items that support our The Colombian Government investments will have to compete 2. An expanded production livelihoods and lifestyles). aims to generate 10% of its against other options as well as of cacao for high quality national income (GDP) from the each other for a share of a finite chocolate feasibility study, to One of the core features of this bio-economy by 2030. However, overall financial budget. To assist include an assessment of the type of economic system, in contemporary, conventional the policy /choice process, analysts national and international the Colombian context, is the economic appraisal of investment have devised a number of so-called potential market demand prioritisation of biodiversity, options is based on a monetary decision-support systems to provide and farmer production both its conservation and valuation of the costs and benefits an evidence base for decisions. opportunities and constraints; management i.e. the creation related to any given investment 3. An examination of cattle of a bio-economy. Given the opportunity. There is a danger The GROW project supports the ranching activities and the country’s natural endowment, that, for example, projects which ‘Balance Sheet approach’ for impacts on biodiversity, with biodiversity is a strategic natural generate a diverse range of costs decision support. This is both a a particular emphasis on capital asset which can power and benefits, some of which lack process and a set of tools which deforestation impacts; and a future, more sustainable monetary price values, do not fit can encompass multi-disciplinary the benefits/costs related to a development pathway. The easily into the current appraisal data across a range of spatial switch to cattle regimes within bio-economy strategy seeks procedure. These opportunities dimensions and plural assessment a silvo-pastoral setting. to protect both natural capital may therefore be given less criteria, including distributional and ecosystem services, which weight by policymakers and equity as well as conventional in turn provide the stock of not get the prioritisation and economic efficiency. The tool box wealth and flows of wellbeing investment that they deserve. therefore includes both monetary 10 11 GROW Colombia Project / Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective October 2020 Introduction Biodiversity Protection in Colombia: An Economic Perspective / Report 2 Introduction CAL SYST OGI EM OL S Introduction C N E a tu ra l SOCIAL SYSTEMS V a r ia b i DRIVERS OF CHANGE l i t lobal biodiversity represents current environmental challenges (e.g. Population growth, y a vast store of wealth that faced by all countries, including economic growth, G climate change) provides humanity with multiple Colombia, demand urgent action. ACTIVITIES 1 (e.g. residential ecosystem services and welfare/ RESPONSES FEEDBACK development, agricultural wellbeing benefits, including most A contemporary problem we face (policy measures) innovations) significantly a life support system. in this context is the feasibility of a Colombia is the second most future in which governments wish biodiverse country on earth and to continue to promote economic PRESSURES therefore has a significant natural growth while also conserving IMPACTS (mechanisms of change (e.g. changes in capital stock on which to draw for biodiversity stocks e.g. forests, e.g. nutrient enrichment human welfare) its current and future development. wetlands, coastal and marine of water bodies) In Report 1 (Turner et al., 2019) the and other habitats. The question GROW Colombia team summarised becomes must we abandon growth CHANGE via the DPSI(W)R framework (Figure as a prime policy objective? At the IN STATES (e.g.