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Community Conservation and Ecotourism Agreement on Waigeo Island, Raja Ampat, Indonesia

The idea to make direct payments for environmental services (widely known as PES), including biodiversity conservation, is evidently not new. In fact, there is reasonable consensus that a contractual approach over public provision of conservation through so-called "conservation concessions" (also known as "conservation incentives") is both cost-effective and efficient, yet the implementation of applied schemes in Indonesia has been lagging behind. The accepted concept usually involves a public agency or non-governmental organization acting as the honest broker to mediate between environmental service sellers (landowners and local communities) and takers (so-called "conservation investors"). Recently, however, a 100% locally-owned ecotourism company active in Indonesian Papua (also known as West Papua or Irian Jaya) entered into an ambitious and innovative five-year pilot agreement with customary landowners on Waigeo Island in the fabled Raja Ampat group in a bid to preserve for future generations, the entire Orobiai River catchment there: 92 sq km of virtually untouched primary forest, set in visually stunning topography, and teeming with spectacular yet globally-threatened wildlife. The concluded Community Conservation and Ecotourism Agreement (CCEA) seals direct structured payments by the ecotourism outfitter to customary landholding groups on Waigeo in return for carefully defined conservation and education outcomes, and adds valuable elements to the debate on PES-based conservation strategies. First and foremost, the knowledge that the strictly necessary opportunity cost of conservation (the cost required to convince landowners) can be modest enough to enable the private ecotourism sector to play an active role in the development of meaningful conservation agreements. Second, that structured payments to landowners are then being backed-up by a sustainable income-generating mechanism with dignifying employment opportunities for entire communities. Third, and perhaps best of all, that such market driven initiatives are fully complementary and can be expected to yield similar conservation outcomes to public or charitable conservation projects but without affecting public or charitable budgets.

The conservation value of the area under protection can hardly be overstated. It harbors the paramount breeding population of Waigeo's endemic megapode (or incubatorbird), the enigmatic Bruijn's Brush-turkey Aepypodius bruijnii (Endangered according to IUCN 2008), and holds good numbers of the endemic Waigeo Cuscus Spilocuscus papuensis (Vulnerable). The area is a haven for regionally endemic or restricted-range yet globally threatened birdlife such as the Western Crowned-Pigeon Goura cristata (Vulnerable), the Brown-headed Crow Corvus fuscicapillus, and the Wilson's Cicinnurus respublica and Red Bird of Paradise Paradisaea rubra (all Near-threatened).

Read the full story here: http://www.PapuaExpeditions.com/agreementorobiai.html

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