Abstract:
Successfully analyzing and managing trade-offs between community welfare and wildlife conservation are complex tasks that require a multidisciplinary approach and consideration of various factors. Bioeconomic
modeling provides a structured quantitative framework for understanding and evaluating the complex interactions between biological systems
and economic activities, aiding in the crafting of more effective and sustainable conservation and rural development strategies. Combined with
results from other methods such as economic valuation, institutional
analysis, impact evaluation, and framed-field experiments, they can provide guidance on reaching the social planner’s optimum. The literature
suggests significant roles for comanagement, benefit-sharing, and sustainable financing of conservation as the key ingredients for managing the
trade-offs between communities’ welfare and nature conservation in Africa. However, comprehensive research tackling multiple problems simultaneously is required to fully
understand and manage the trade-offs. Further, mainstreaming gender and climate change in
studies of the trade-offs is increasingly becoming an obligation.
