The roles of ownership, ecology, and economics in public wetland-conservation decisions

Scholars have studied the problem of optimal reserve-site selection. However, the actual conservation choices made by government decision makers may yield reserve networks that are far from optimal. This paper uses data on patterns of wetland conservation in Austria in order to identify patterns in government decisions regarding which wetlands to protect. We find that conservation decisions are guided at least in part by variation in ecological value and economic cost. However, there is also a marked bias against conserving lands that happen to be privately owned. This bias against protecting private land is likely to be cost-ineffective, driven by asymmetric information and political pressure. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.