TY - JOUR

T1 - Motives, opportunities, and risks for private sector investment in protected areas with international importance

T2 - evidence from German companies

AU - Meißner, Nathalie

AU - Grote, Ulrike

N1 - Funding information: We would like to thank Till Stellmacher for supporting the development and the realization of the survey. Furthermore, special thanks go to Etti Winter who contributed to the early discussion and design of the expert interviews. The study was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and was part of the project Certification of Protected Areas (CERPA). Thanks to the CERPA team for their valuable feedback during the whole study.

PY - 2017/2/1

Y1 - 2017/2/1

N2 - What motives do companies have to make a voluntary contribution to the protection and conservation of ecosystems? Could an international market for protected area certificates (PACs)—issued for geographical areas managed in accordance with social and environmental best practices—boost private investment? What are the market opportunities and risks that influence private sector investment? These questions are evaluated based on semi-structured expert interviews conducted in 39 German companies. Triangulation is used for data analysis to combine the advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative interview results complemented with the exploratory factor analysis allow identifying five motives for private sector investment, of which three are key motives in the early stage of developing PACs: direct financial benefits; the social legitimacy of entrepreneurial business; and the corporate dependency on ecosystems. Opportunities for private companies arise from the high marketing potential of certificates, the international orientation of the PAC market, and the bundling of different ecosystem benefits. Identified risks include a lack of differentiation, additional costs, and green washing. Depending on the transparency of the certification scheme, companies are aware that PACs could both improve and damage their credibility and reputation.

AB - What motives do companies have to make a voluntary contribution to the protection and conservation of ecosystems? Could an international market for protected area certificates (PACs)—issued for geographical areas managed in accordance with social and environmental best practices—boost private investment? What are the market opportunities and risks that influence private sector investment? These questions are evaluated based on semi-structured expert interviews conducted in 39 German companies. Triangulation is used for data analysis to combine the advantages of qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative interview results complemented with the exploratory factor analysis allow identifying five motives for private sector investment, of which three are key motives in the early stage of developing PACs: direct financial benefits; the social legitimacy of entrepreneurial business; and the corporate dependency on ecosystems. Opportunities for private companies arise from the high marketing potential of certificates, the international orientation of the PAC market, and the bundling of different ecosystem benefits. Identified risks include a lack of differentiation, additional costs, and green washing. Depending on the transparency of the certification scheme, companies are aware that PACs could both improve and damage their credibility and reputation.

KW - Biodiversity

KW - Certificates

KW - Corporate environmental responsibility

KW - Ecosystem services

KW - Expert interviews

KW - Private sector investment

KW - Protected areas

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945572377&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10668-015-9722-2

DO - 10.1007/s10668-015-9722-2

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84945572377

VL - 19

SP - 199

EP - 219

JO - Environment, Development and Sustainability

JF - Environment, Development and Sustainability

SN - 1387-585X

IS - 1

ER -