MADISON – Biofuels have been touted as both a substitute for diminishing worldwide petroleum reserves and a cleaner-burning alternative to fossil fuels that will help alleviate global warming.
So what happens when a region bets its future on the production of what many believe to be an ideal biofuel?
Ecologist and MacArthur Fellow Lisa Curran will describe the experience in Borneo, a large island in southeast Asia, in a free public lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, in 180 Science Hall, 550 N. Park St., at UW-Madison.
Her topic: "From Timber to Palm Oil: Effects of Bornean Land Use Change on Carbon Emissions, Rural Livelihoods and Biodiversity."
Oil palm plantations have replaced millions of acres of tropical rainforest in Borneo since the mid-1980s as palm oil production has skyrocketed to meet a growing international demand for biofuels. Curran, a professor and director of the Tropical Resources Institute at Yale University, has studied the impacts.
Her presentation, part of the Roy F. Weston Distinguished Global Sustainability Lecture Series, keynotes a two-day forum, "Designing ‘Pro-Poor’ Rewards for Ecosystem Services," organized by UW-Madison’s Land Tenure Center (LTC).
Experts from around the world will gather April 7-8 for the forum in Madison to discuss innovative strategies for rewarding local ecosystem stewards, particularly in areas of persistent poverty and high biodiversity.
Global organizations and national governments increasingly use cash and other incentives to encourage local land users to protect ecosystems. The strategy has been widely adopted over the past decade to help save the environment while also fighting poverty in rural areas where people rely heavily on nearby natural resources for their livelihoods.
"This approach potentially provides immediate incentives and benefits for local ecosystem protection, but only if there are adequate institutions and sound science," says LTC director Lisa Naughton, a professor of geography and environmental studies. "Our forum will bring ecologists, economists, geographers and policy leaders together to consider how to make these incentives more effective and equitable."
UW-Madison’s Daniel Bromley, Anderson-Bascom professor of agricultural and applied economics, will give the opening keynote, "Incentive-Compatible Institutional Design: Who’s in Charge Here?" at 8:30 a.m. April 7.
Except for Curran’s lecture, all forum events will be held at the Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. Most of the forum is open to the public, but seating at the Pyle Center is limited and pre-registration for events there is requested. For details, visit the forum Web site.
The Weston Lecture Series is co-sponsored by UW-Madison’s Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment (SAGE) and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. SAGE and the Land Tenure Center are both part of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.