Setting and achieving objectives for conserving biological diversity in arid environments

With conservation of biological diversity depending as much on socioeconomic as on biological processes, this paper stresses the importance of clear policy objectives to guide strategies for preserving biological diversity. The first requirement is to define the essential elements and socioeconomic importance of biological diversity, so that these can be accommodated adequately in a national programme for sustainable rural development.Efficient application of this programme requires that its goals be clearly enunciated in national policy. There should also be maximum political support for its effective sociopolitically, economically and ecologically rationalised implementation by an accountable authority through a conducive institutional framework. Experience suggests that proprietorship and price are prime elements that need to be reconciled in such a framework of positive and negative incentives to individuals, to mitigate the opportunity costs and encourage the conservation of biodiversity. The present paper considers how these institutional requirements may be met, with particular reference to the special characteristics found in arid areas