Working Paper: NBER ID: w31934
Authors: Tristan Grupp; Prakash Mishra; Mathias Reynaert; Arthur A. Van Benthem
Abstract: The European Union designates 26% of its landmass as a protected area, limiting economic development to favor biodiversity. This paper uses the staggered introduction of protected-area policies between 1985 and 2020 to study the selection of land for protection and the causal effect of protection on vegetation cover and nightlights. Our results reveal protection did not affect the outcomes in any meaningful way across four decades, all countries, protection cohorts, and a wide range of land and climate attributes. We conclude that European conservation efforts lack ambition because policymakers select land for protection not threatened by development.
Keywords: Protected areas; Biodiversity; Vegetation cover; Nightlights; EU policy
JEL Codes: Q23; Q24; Q57; R14
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Protected Area Policies (Q28) | Vegetation Cover (Q24) |
| Protected Area Policies (Q28) | Nightlights (Y60) |
| Time Since Treatment (C41) | Vegetation Cover (Q24) |
| Time Since Treatment (C41) | Nightlights (Y60) |
| Cohort-Level ATEs (C21) | Vegetation Cover (Q24) |
| Site Selection (R30) | Effectiveness of Protected Area Policies (Q26) |