Overestimating conservation costs in Southeast Asia

[Extract] It is important to moderate the often exaggerated expectations about the potential for carbon payments to secure tropical forest conservation, but pessimism also needs to be kept in check. On the pessimistic side, Fisher et al. (Front Ecol Environ 2011; 9[6]: 329–34) estimated that the opportunity costs of conserving forests in Southeast Asia range between US$9860 and US$12 750 per hectare from logging and a further US$11 240 per hectare from subsequent conversion to oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations. We agree with the authors that these costs exceed any likely payments from international programs for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+), but we do not think that these figures apply generally across Southeast Asia.