Paying for the presence of predators: conservation performance payments in theory and practice

Large carnivores can be difficult and dangerous to live alongside, and so they are often killed by people. Economic costs – such as through livestock depredation – can be a key driver of this persecution, which has contributed to significant reductions in the population of many species and threatens their long-term persistence. In response, conservationists have employed a number of economic tools in an attempt to reduce the killing of large carnivores. One such approach is conservation performance payments (CPPs), where payments are contingent on the presence or abundance of certain species. The number of CPPs in operation has grown rapidly in recent years, yet they remain subject to little research.

This thesis addresses key research gaps concerning CPP design and how this may relate to their equitability and perceived effectiveness. A tiered approach is taken, with Chapters Two, Three, and Four exploring the theory, design, and practice of CPPs in turn. Chapter Two identifies a number of mechanisms through which inequity arises in payments to encourage human-carnivore coexistence, and highlights the theoretical potential for CPPs to promote more equitable conservation. Chapter Three is explorative and uses key informant interviews to answer questions regarding the design and management of nine CPPs across eastern and southern Africa. It reveals significant variation in how CPPs operate, and challenges the prevailing conceptualisation of CPPs as entirely results-based. Difficulties in ensuring equitable governance is identified as a recurring challenge, alongside determining appropriate payment levels and securing long-term funding. Chapter Four adopts a mixed-methods case-study approach, exploiting differences in the design of two CPPs in Tanzania’s Ruaha-Rungwa ecosystem to assess how scheme design affects a CPP’s equitability and perceived effectiveness. It finds that some design choices (i.e. collective sanctions and looser rules on expenditure) incurred a trade-off between effectiveness and equitability, and that using a relative payment system was both ineffective and inequitable. Concerningly, the perceived primary driver in reducing carnivore-killing behaviour was the fear of being pictured on the camera-traps used to record carnivore presence, rather than the payments themselves.

This thesis furthers our understanding of CPPs in efforts to encourage coexistence between people and large carnivores. It demonstrates that their potential to deliver equitable and effective conservation is mediated through their design, which varies greatly even across similar contexts. Whilst CPPs are a promising tool, only careful forethought will ensure that they contribute towards international commitments for a more equitable conservation.