Finding a cohesive and effective conservation in the Overberg - an experimental application of the agglomeration bonus

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-41).
The Overberg region in the Western Cape is an area rich in conservation value. This region has another distinctive feature in that there are three different landowners adjacent to one another, each boasting land rich in biodiversity value. In the event that the land use practices of the landowners are in conflict with biodiversity conservation on their land, there is a trade-off between net social benefit and landowner welfare. Currently, there is no explicit conservation regulation that governs the way these landowners manage the conservation value of their land. This study investigates the viability of the application of an agglomeration bonus as a voluntary incentive mechanism aimed promoting sound conservation practices at three sites managed within the region. The analysis is unique in its application of both the normal form game theory and spatial mapping approaches to the problem in a three-player context. The primary finding of this work is that in a controlled environment the application of an agglomeration bonus does result in the creation of contiguous reserves between adjacent landowners.