How much does it cost to save a species from extinction? Costs and rewards of conserving the Lear's macaw

Abstract

Although the limited resources available to save species from extinction necessitate the optimization of conservation actions, little is known about their costs and effectiveness. We developed a costs-rewards framework that integrates information on which sectors of society contribute to funding conservation, how much is contributed, how funds are distributed among conservation targets and how these investments drive not only conservation rewards but also the economic and ecosystem services that benefit society. We applied this framework to the Lear's macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), a species discovered in the wild in 1978 with only 60 individuals. Funds invested over the last 25 years reached US$3.66 million. The contribution of governments, non-governmental organizations and private funders varied over time, as did the funding targets. Funds were proportionally invested to mitigate the main causes of mortality, while no funds were devoted to protecting foraging habitats. Conservation rewards were satisfactory, with the cost and time needed to downlist the species from critically endangered to endangered being similar to those invested in other bird species. However, economic rewards (through ecotourism and handicrafts linked to the conservation of the species) were low and require promotion, while ecosystem services provided by Lear's macaws have yet to be quantified.

Keywords: Lear's macaw; conservation costs; rewards; threatened species recovery.

Figure 1.

The Lear's macaw was discovered in the wild in 1978, with a population estimated at only 60 individuals.

Figure 2.

Flux of different funding sectors to different conservation targets and the main threats affecting the conservation of the Lear's macaws, as well as potential economic and ecosystem services rewards. The width of the red arrows is proportional to the main reported causes of death and extraction of macaws from the population. The colours in the boxes represent the proportions of funds from each funding sector to different conservation targets: state (blue), national NGOs (green), private (orange) and international NGOs (yellow).

Figure 3.

(a) Temporal changes in funds invested in the conservation of the Lear's macaw. (b) Temporal trends in funds invested by the different funding sectors.

Figure 4.

Temporal changes in the percentage of forest and agropastoral land uses in the 10 municipalities used by Lear's macaws as foraging areas.

Figure 5.

Number of Lear's macaws extracted from the wild population over the years as a result of different human-related causes.

Figure 6.

Temporal trends in corn crop damage (in tons) and costs to economically compensate the losses to farmers.

Figure 7.

Approximate global population trend of the Lear's macaw until the most recent year for which a census is available. Numbers are the mean number of macaws censused each year (figure redrawn from [25]).

Figure 8.

Relationship between funds invested in conservation and the number of years until bird species were downlisted from CR to EN, including data from 14 species compiled by McCarthy et al. [5] and by this study on the Lear's macaw. Conservation projects that also included ex situ actions are differentiated in the figure. Regression line and 95% CI (shaded area) are depicted.

Figure 9.

Examples of handicrafts related to the conservation of the Lear's macaw made by local artisans using wood (a) and leaves of the licuri palm (b) (photograph in (b) by Simone Tenório).