"Economic Instruments to Enhance the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity"

Call for papers:

"Economic Instruments to Enhance the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity"

The Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, in association with Conservation International, DEFRA, Department of Land Economy of Cambridge University and European Investment Bank, announces the Eleventh International BIOECON Conference on "Economic Instruments to Enhance the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity". The Conference will be held at the Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli, in Venice, Italy, on September 21st-22nd, 2009.

The Conference is targeted to researchers, environmental professionals, international organizations and policy makers who are interested in working in the management and conservation of biodiversity. The Conference is focused on identifying the most effective and efficient instruments for biodiversity conservation, such as auctions of biodiversity conservation contracts, payment-for-services contracts, taxes, tradable permits, voluntary mechanisms and straightforward command and control. Special emphasis will be given to policy reforms aimed at increasing the commercial rewards for conserving biodiversity, increasing the penalties for biodiversity loss and circulating information on the biodiversity performance requirements of firms. An increasing number of businesses, which were responsible for biodiversity loss in the past, are now supporters of biodiversity conservation. Markets for organic agriculture and sustainably-harvested timber are developing at double-digit rates, while rapid growth is observed in the demand for climate mitigation services, such as the protection of forests and wetlands to absorb carbon dioxide. Bio-prospecting, the search for new compounds, genes and organisms in the wild, is another biodiversity business on the rise.

Papers are specifically invited on the themes of:

* Assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of biodiversity conservation instruments, taking into account spatial and governmental considerations;
* Development of new, incentive-compatible instruments to conserve biodiversity;
* Evaluation of the costs of conservation policies versus the costs of 'business-as-usual' within an existing policy framework (e.g. agriculture, fisheries, infrastructure, climate change, etc) that causes ongoing losses of ecosystems and biodiversity.
* Determination of the factors - including the choice of policy instruments - that increase or decrease a farmer's or public body's motivation to conserve biodiversity on their land;
* Application to strategies and projects of the ecosystem services approach for assessing and valuing environmental impacts;
* Benefit transfer methodologies to assess the socio-economic and monetary value of ecosystems services;
* Applications of economic instruments to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, with particular emphasis on case studies in biodiversity hotspots.

We are particularly interested in papers documenting practical applications and experiences on the above themes. Theoretical contributions are welcome (e.g., using computer artificial intelligence approaches), but also more applied work (e.g. how public bodies - managing for example flood risks - can innovatively deliver wider ecosystem benefits, or how private landowners can be encouraged to conserve biodiversity on their land). We are also interested in multi-disciplinary papers that combine scientific and economic assessments. However, we will also accept papers on a range of other issues related to renewable resources and biodiversity management.

The Conference will cover two days. Leading international environmental economists will present their latest research in two plenary sessions. The keynote speakers are: Professor Anil Markandya (University of Bath, UK and BC3, Spain) and Professor Edward Barbier (University of Wyoming, USA). Two special panel discussions are also scheduled. These are characterized by a round table and shall be focused on climate change, biodiversity management issues. One shall be co-organized with the European Investment Bank and the second by Conservation International, giving to the audience an interesting perspective that is the link between theory and practice.

Full/draft papers may be submitted for presentation and will be considered by the programme committee. Electronic copies (in WORD or PDF format) should be sent to Ughetta Molin Fop (ughetta.molin@feem.it) no later than May 20th, 2009. Acceptance of papers will be notified by email in June 2009.

The Conference will open with an evening reception at the Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli on September 20th. Conference sessions will commence in the morning of September 21st and end in the afternoon of September 22nd. A Conference dinner will be organised on the evening of September 21st. Lunches and refreshments will also be provided. All the participants will be offered lunches and refreshments, the opening reception, the social dinner and the Conference package (program brochure with the book of abstracts, five hours of Internet connection, folder, bag, pen, badge, logistical information, Venice map). There is no registration fee.
Travel and accommodation expenses remain the responsibility of all the participants.

In order to register to the Conference and the your accommodation booking participants are invited to fill in the downloadable form at the BIOECON web-site and send it to the Conference Secretariat (Ughetta Molin Fop, e-mail ughetta.molin@feem.it, fax +39.041.2711461) by July 15th, 2009.

Further information about the Conference will be posted in the BIOECON web-site at http://www.bioecon.ucl.ac.uk/.