Lone fishing boat, Jamaica Jamaica’s Goat Islands are the center of what has often been portrayed as a classic development-versus-environment conflict.

An international study shows there may be better, cheaper and less environmentally damaging alternative sites for the proposed transshipment port and logistics hub. Kingston, Jamaica: The Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF), today announced the findings of a cost-effectiveness assessment of four potential sites for the proposed transshipment port that China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) is proposing to build. CSF’s recommendations were presented to a group of senior decision-makers at a meeting at the Courtleigh Hotel today.

I remember noticing on a trip to Brazil in 2001 that compact-flourescent lightbulbs were colonizing the country's light sockets with startling speed. It hadn't been raining and the drought was idling hydroelectric dams that accounted for more than 90% of electricity. The resulting blackouts, referred to as "apagões," changed people's behavior. Consumers slashed their energy consumption and solved the crisis. The rains eventually came and the outages faded into memory.

During the two-week training, instructors from CSF, Oregon State University, the University of Brasilia, and Cambridge Resources International led an intensive schedule of lectures, exercises, and games to give participants insight into the economic drivers of environmental problems and the economic and policy tools that can lead to effective solutions. Topics included Microeconomics, Natural Resource Economics, Environmental Policy and Valuation, and Cost-Benefit Analysis. Each participant came away with a clear understanding of how these topics relate to their work in conservation, policy, and analysis.

Participants of the 2014 Forum

Conservation Strategy Fund is pleased to announce the next webinar in our Conservation Economics Initiative series. Presented in partnership with the Marine Ecosystem Services Partnership (MESP) at Duke University, "An Economic Instrument for Coral Reefs" is coming up on Wednesday, October 22nd at 11:00am EDT (10:00am CDT, 8:00am PDT, 5:00pm CET).

CSF presenta las primeras dos publicaciones del programa Investigaciones Económicas Aplicadas para la Conservación en la Amazonía Andina, puedes descargarlas aqui:

John Reid, CSF President, and Mariano Castro, Deputy Minister of Environmental Management. Photo courtesy of MINAM; http://www.minam.gob.pe Lima, Peru -- This morning, CSF President John Reid signed an agreement with Peru's Ministry of Environment (MINAM) to continue work on environmental compensation in Amazonian ecosystems. At least two case studies will be conducted.

The 2014 Brazil Economic Tools for Conservation course was held July 28 and August 8, 2014 at the Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais. CSF's Economic Tools for Conservation, a well known and renowned course among conservation professionals around the world, provides participants with skills in economic analysis on which to build more efficient and effective strategies for environmental conservation.