Conserving wildlife through trading wildlife

Vinson Centre Seminar Series

Talk by Dr Francis Vorhies

The trade in ivory is banned to protect elephants. The trade in horn is banned to protect rhinos. The import of hunting trophies is banned to protected hunted species. But what if these trade bans are not working and trading wildlife is actually the way to conserve it? Though the Global Biodiversity Framework, international policy makers recognise that we should ensure that the harvesting and trade of wild species is sustainable, legal, and beneficial to people. Could liberalised markets for wildlife-based goods and services be the way to conserve wildlife? This talk  explores the increasingly popular concept of a wildlife economy and also reflects a bit on the place of the wild in classical economic thought.