Forests as Capital: Financial Mechanisms for Tropical Forest Conservation

Tropical forest loss and degradation due to human activities have been persistent and intractable global problems. Model estimates suggest that current levels of finance for conservation and sustainable forest management (SFM) are insufficient and may need to increase by an order of magnitude in order to meet this challenge. This special issue presents select articles from the 2014 Yale International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) Annual Conference, which explored diverse finance mechanisms such as REDD+, sustainability certification, ecological compensation, community forestry, and official development assistance. Each finance mechanism has advantages and disadvantages, which render them effective under specific circumstances. Comprehensive tropical forest conservation will require a diverse portfolio of finance strategies appropriate for local institutional and ecological conditions. Hybrid strategies combining elements of multiple schemes could bolster conservation and SFM efforts by leveraging their respective strengths. Clear and realistic targets and baselines, robust monitoring and measurement-reporting-verification, strong governance and institutions, and periodic evaluation can contribute to the successful application of forest conservation finance. Due to the potentially high damages, especially to the world's poorest communities from continuing current deforestation trends, substantially greater financing of tropical conservation and SFM is a sound global investment.