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ability to keep up with the pace of negotiations, and at least once led to a discussion on issues that had already been decided in the plenary!
Part II is a detailed step-by-step analysis of the provisions of the Protocol. Sometimes, it is dry, legal stuff. H owever, the chapter on target figures includes an interesting discussion on how the numbers were negotiated in K yoto. A shortcom-ing of this part is the difficulty in evaluatshortcom-ing the importance of the different provisions as they are listed one after another. F or example, there is no general overview of the flexible instruments and their role. It is explicitly misleading to have an analysis of the pre-K yoto negotiation process on Joint Implementation put in a chapter that exclu-sively deals with Article 6 of the K yoto Protocol. Part III is a mixture of conclusions and fore-casts on the future development of climate negoti-ations. The conclusions rightly stress the role of situational factors that led to the successful out-come of K yoto, but beout-come a bit too strong, stating ‘‘the K yoto Protocol is likely to affect the life of every person living on this planet in the next century more than any other international agreements’’. This will only be the case if the K yoto Protocol is ratified and followed up by a set of other agreements with much stronger targets in the course of the next century. Possible conflicts are already outlined in the following chapter that looks at the linkages of the Protocol with other multilateral agreements. The final chapter is a concrete policy proposal, which wants the EU to combine forces with Japan and R ussia to ratify the Protocol and circumvent the U S, which is unlikely to ratify it due to domestic policy pressures. While the proposal is interesting and should be pursued further in the international negotiations, it is unclear whether it develops much force in a book oriented towards researchers.
Overall, the book serves well as reference for those that who to obtain a general overview of the K yoto Protocol and the process of climate negoti-ations. It has been carefully edited and contains no mistakes. F or the specialists, the analysis of the K yoto Conference gives some important in-sights. Interesting detail is often found in the footnotes. A shortcoming of the book is the small
role of economic analysis and the somewhat dull style, especially in part II.
References
G rubb, M ., Vrolijk, C., Brack, D ., 1999. The K yoto Protocol. Earthscan, London.
Axel M ichaelowa
H amburg Institute for Economic R esearch, N euer Jungfernstieg 21, 20347 H amburg, Germany PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 8 0 0 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 3 1 - 2
Biodi7ersity, Conser7ation and Sustainable De7
el-opment. Principles and Practices with Asian Exam-ples, Clem Tisdell, Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Cheltenham, 1999, 263 pp. ISBN 1-85898-735-0
The author addresses a timely topic which is still high on the public agenda list of environmen-tal issues. The text is directed toward readers who want ‘‘to preserve biological diversity for its own sake’’ and who ‘‘take a more instrumentalist eco-nomics-type attitude towards nature’’, and, fur-thermore, it focuses mainly on wildlife conservation and ‘‘the integration of wildlife con-servation with policies for sustainable develop-ment’’ (p. x).
The text, which contains several previously published articles, is divided into four parts of very unequal lengths. Part I familiarizes the reader with the topic and provides a very elemen-tary overview of the linkages between biodiver-sity, conservation and sustainable development, and discusses the role that economics can play in this context.
Part II represents the conceptual core and pol-icy analysis of this text. In the first two chapters, the role of environmental and natural resource economics is discussed in achieving sustainable development by designing appropriate measures for the protection of nature conservation and biodiversity. Chapter four re-visits in more detail these concepts and issues; in particular, it
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trates the various functions biodiversity exerts on ecosystem productivity, resilience and stability, and its sustainability. The following chapter focuses on different methods for conservation of wildlife, particularly the extension of a private property rights system. N ot surprisingly, the author argues that private property rights and marketing of wildlife products can assist the conservation of certain species and/or natural areas, but they can-not be viewed as panacea for environmental protec-tion. Chapter 6 attempts to answer some broader questions, namely what are the consequences of a world-wide extended market system and of the process of globalization for nature conservation and for the protection of biodiversity. R ealizing that these relationships are ‘complex’ (p. 86), one is emotionally inclined to agree with the author that the policies of freer international trade and, in particular, the implementation of World Trade Organization regulations and the recommended structural adjustment policies by the International M onetary F und and World Bank for developing countries will unlikely result in more substantial international efforts to protect biodiversity and nature. Chapter seven deals with the issues of financial support from the international commu-nity and from agencies for nature conservation, and also addresses the problem of how to rank conser-vation projects. D espite recognizing existing con-ceptual problems of accurate monetary valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity, the author, nevertheless, recommends a ranking according to the highest benefit – cost ratios and suggests that ‘‘this ranking may then … be altered to take account of values which are not captured by the economic analysis’’ (p. 95). U nfortunately, the author makes no attempt to elaborate more on this issue nor does he offer any policy analysis of existing donor agencies and their operations, par-ticularly of the operations of the ‘G lobal Environ-mental F acility’ within the framework of the Convention on Biodiversity. The Convention on Biodiversity is barely mentioned in this text. Part II concludes with a discussion on ecotourism and its potential contribution to sustainable develop-ment and nature conservation.
Part III promises to support the conceptual principles and policies discussed in the preceding
chapters with case studies from Asia. The interested reader, however, will be very disappointed because the author provides only very elementary, general and scanty information about the environmental quality of air, water and soil, referring mainly to China and India. The remainder of the text refers to case studies of nature conservation in China, here exclusively to Xishuangbanna State N ature R eserve located in Southern Yunnan, and the final chapter contains a case study of conservation efforts in India’s most N orth-Eastern states. Chap-ters 10 – 14 describe various beneficial and adverse effects generated by Xishuangbanna State N ature R eserve on the adjacent local community. U nder these aspects, various topics are discussed: the rapid population growth puts pressure on the existence of this nature reserve and conflicts about alterna-tive land use exists; the government’s response and strategies are to ease population pressure by providing economic opportunities outside the re-serve, such as agroforestry, and by upgrading facilities to attract more tourism (e.g. a domesti-cated elephant as a tourist attraction!); agricultural damages caused by wildlife (referred to as ‘‘agricul-tural pests’’), here caused by the few remaining (150 – 250) elephants in this reserve, and discussion of compensation for wildlife damages; and con-cludes with a study about options for improving the financial situation of this nature reserve by gener-ating additional income from ecotourism and other economic activities such as butterfly farming and concessions to fruit growers. The Indian case study contains a very general and brief description of the environmental conditions in India’s N orth-Eastern region, and the author identifies rapid population growth and political instability as the main threats for the survival of the few nature reserves in this region.
The book concludes by summarizing the main points of the text and with the author’s request for a ‘‘holistic approach to nature conservation’’ (p. 252) without offering any suggestions.
The author missed an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing debate on nature conservation. The readers interested in the subjects of biodiversity and sustainable development will put this book aside very disappointed and dissatisfied: the
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contents of the conceptual chapters do not go beyond the level of knowledge of introductory undergraduate textbooks, but it lacks their clarity and intellectual cohesiveness. The text is poorly researched. The author relies on a few ‘proven’ reliable sources of environmental economists and avoids any reference to literature related to ecology and biology. The case studies also do not offer any new or interesting insights into management prac-tices of nature reserves and/or of biodiversity. The reader is surprised that this text could have passed the vigilant eyes of an editor and/or reviewer.
C. Tisdell
Edward Elgar Publishing L td, Cheltenham, UK PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 8 0 0 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 1 3 2 - 4
The Natural W ealth of Nations: Harnessing the M arket for the En7ironment, David Malin
Rood-man. WW Norton and Company, New York, 1998. ISBN 0-393-31852-4
D avid M alin R oodman has written an informa-tive policy-oriented book outlining the role of both government intervention and free market econom-ics in causing environmental degradation, then summarizing several of the market mechanisms that can be used to curb it. H is title is obviously a play on Adam Smith’s ‘The Wealth of N ations’, with the explanation that the inclusion of the word ‘natural’ is unfortunately required, since natural resources are often excluded from the definition of wealth. Concisely put, the book proposes reforms that ‘would replace private profit from unsustain-able abuse of our natural inheritance with collective profit from sustainable use’. The author supports theory with abundant and well-documented empir-ical evidence and case studies showing that his suggested reforms can work. While he introduces few original ideas, he uses solid economic reasoning to present a plausible policy package, and his clear exposition and avoidance of obfuscating mathe-matics makes the applied economic theory accessi-ble to the broader public. M oving beyond economic analysis, R oodman addresses the
politi-cal obstacles to the implementation of the policies presented in the book, and proposes credible means of overcoming them. Like much of what comes out of the WorldWatch press, R oodman discusses serious problems and presents feasible solutions.
The first section examines existing government subsidies which promote unsustainable use of nat-ural resources and ecological damage, calculates their direct costs, and shows how they result in economic inefficiencies and environmental degra-dation. Stepping back from the free market critique that all subsidies are market interventions and should be removed, R oodman explains why subsi-dies remain such popular government policies. H e also explains why subsidies can be a blunt instru-ment that causes significant collateral damage when weilded to achieve a specific goal. R oodman docu-ments annual global government expenditures on these subsidies of $650 billion, with few real public benefits and substantial environmental costs.
The second section presents market-oriented policies that can address the problems previously laid out, using numerous examples to show that the suggested policies work in practice as well as theory. F irst, governments should reform subsidies for polluting industries, which R oodman estimates represent 5% of global tax revenues. Second, R ood-man proposes increased royalties on resource ex-traction, and third, subsidies for environmentally beneficial technologies. H e argues that the well-known Pigouvian taxes and tradable quotas for environmentally harmful activities and resource depletion are also essential. Taxes on undesirable activities could potentially generate more revenue than either ending subsidies or capturing resource windfalls, and all three policies together would allow a dramatic reduction in taxes on desirable activities, such as employment and income tax.
I have three relatively minor criticisms on this section. F irst, R oodman’s claim that low resource royalties have no negative environmental outcome is simply not true for resources with variable extraction costs. F or example, in Brazil, trans-portation comprises a substantial part of timber extraction costs. Loggers will remove timber as long as the extraction, transportation, processing costs and royalties are less than the sale price. As transportation costs increase steadily with dis-tance from the market, higher royalties will
