Elephants, Economics and Ivory (Environmental and Resource Economics Set) - Softcover

Ivory is big business, and in some parts of Africa elephants have been hunted almost to extinction in the quest for it. The losses to African economies have been catastrophic. Now there is an international ban on the trade and conservation is. the principal goal. This should be a matter for rejoicing, but nothing is quite so simple. The authors of this book have looked at the overall statistics, including those for countries where the elephant population is stable. They have considered the multiplicity of economic and social functions fulfilled by ensuring that elephant herds survive, tourism, a variety of ecological purpose. and, finally, as a source of ivory. They show how the careful management of elephants as a resource can best serve African interests. This book is at the cutting edge of economic thinking and provides a model for the consideration of the difficult relationship between people and wildlife. Originally published in 19990

Edward B. Barbier is the John S. Bugas Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming. He has over twenty-five years' experience as an environmental and resource economist, working mainly on the economics of environment and development issues. He is the author of many books on environmental policy, including Natural Resources and Economic Development (2005), A Global Green New Deal (2010) and Scarcity and Frontiers: How Economies Have Developed Through Natural Resource Exploitation (2010), all published by Cambridge University Press.

Timothy M. Swanson is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics at Cambridge University, the author of numerous articles on the law and economics of endangered species and biodiversity, and advisor to numerous national and international organizations on these issues.

David W. Pearce is Professor of Economics at University College London and Director of the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment. He is editor of "The MIT Dictionary of Modern Economics, "coauthor of "Blueprint for a Green Economy, "and editor of "Blueprint 2: Greening the World Economy."