Title

Achieving the triple bottom line in the face of inherent trade-offs among social equity, economic return, and conservation

Author Info

Benjamin S. Halpern, University of California - Santa Barbara
Carissa J. Klein, University of Queensland
Christopher J. Brown, University of Queensland
Maria Beger, University of Queensland
Hedley S. Grantham, University of Queensland
Sangeeta Mangubhai, The Nature Conservancy - Sanur
Mary Ruckelshaus, Stanford University
Vivitskaia J. Tulloch, University of Queensland
Matt Watts, University of Queensland
Crow White, University of California - Santa BarbaraFollow
Hough P. Possingham, University of Queensland

Recommended Citation

Postprint version. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume 110, Issue 15, April 9, 2013, pages 6229-6234.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Crow White was not yet affiliated with Cal Poly.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1217689110.

Abstract

Triple–bottom-line outcomes from resource management and conservation, where conservation goals and equity in social outcomes are maximized while overall costs are minimized, remain a highly sought-after ideal. However, despite widespread recognition of the importance that equitable distribution of benefits or costs across society can play in conservation success, little formal theory exists for how to explicitly incorporate equity into conservation planning and prioritization. Here, we develop that theory and implement it for three very different case studies in California (United States), Raja Ampat (Indonesia), and the wider Coral Triangle region (Southeast Asia). We show that equity tends to trade off nonlinearly with the potential to achieve conservation objectives, such that similar conservation outcomes can be possible with greater equity, to a point. However, these case studies also produce a range of trade-off typologies between equity and conservation, depending on how one defines and measures social equity, including direct (linear) and no trade-off. Important gaps remain in our understanding, most notably how equity influences probability of conservation success, in turn affecting the actual ability to achieve conservation objectives. Results here provide an important foundation for moving the science and practice of conservation planning—and broader spatial planning in general toward more consistently achieving efficient, equitable, and effective outcomes.

Disciplines

Biology

Copyright

2013 National Academy of Sciences.