Olivia Rendon

Postgraduate Student

Telephone number: +44(0) 113 34 37966
Email address: O.R.Rendon@leeds.ac.uk
Room: 9.123

Biography

Qualifications: Licenciatura (equivalent to a BSc) in Biology, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras; Postgraduate Diploma in Natural Resources Management and Conservation with DUMAC, Mexico; MPhil in Environment, Society and Development, Cambridge University

Work Experience: I commenced work as a biology lab instructor for 2 years at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras. Later, I was the co-director of the "Iguana Research and Breeding Station" conservation project on the island of Utila, Honduras for a few months. Then I had 2 very interesting years at the Honduran Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment managing a diverse array of projects. After my masters I volunteered for two months in the Central Himalayas, India; and before starting my PhD I spent 6 months as a research assistant at the School of Geography (Leeds University).

Research Interests: ecosystem services; protected area management; biodiversity & conservation; environmental economics; equity & sustainable development

Project Title: Costs and benefits of ecosystem services from Honduras' protected areas and their distribution

Supervisor: Jouni Paavola (SRI)

Funding: Fully-funded International Research Scholarship (FIRS) - University of Leeds; fieldwork funded by the Latin American and Caribbean Environmental Economics Program (LACEEP)

Start date: October 2009

Project outline

Protected areas in developing countries are under increasing pressure for their land and resources, and their effects on local communities are highly debated. Thus there is a need to provide pragmatic evidence of the role of protected areas in the socioeconomic development of rural communities. My current research aims to evaluate the key factors affecting the distribution of costs and benefits of water and biological resource use in a two protected areas of Honduras. Data will be collected through a contingent valuation payment card method, a social cost-benefit analysis and interviews. The study is expected to contribute to determining the feasibility of a payment for ecosystem services scheme in the study site, to analyzing the effects of environmental governance and property rights in the levels of equity in the use of water and biological resources, and proposing more socially beneficial ways of accessing ecosystem services.