Department of Economics - Working Paper #2010-14

Integrating Optimization and Strategic Conservation to Achieve Higher Efficiencies in Land Protection

  by Ole M. Amundsen, Kent D. Messer, and William L. Allen, III

Abstract

Strategic land conservation seeks to select the highest quality lands given limited financial resources. Traditionally conservation officials implement strategic conservation by creating prioritization maps that attempt to identify the lands of highest ecological value or public value from a resource perspective. This paper describes the history of using optimization in strategic conservation and demonstrates how the combination of these approaches can significantly strengthen conservation efforts by making these programs more efficient with public monies.

JEL Codes: C61, Q2

Keywords: Mathematical Programming, Conservation Optimization, Cost Effectiveness Analysis, Strategic Conservation