Complicating habitat preservation agreements

Imposing requirements for frequent written reports, intensive monitoring of results and similar things are likely only to cause landowners to lose interest in habitat preservation schemes.

A system so complex that it deters landowners from participating means that conservation of endangered species on private lands must be accomplished primarily through enforcement and prohibition. Enforcement and prohibition do not reach many of the most serious threats to species survival, including the loss of natural disturbance regimes, the presence of exotic species and the decline of small, isolated populations in already fragmented habitats.

Corporate landowners may be more likely to accept reporting requirements, but even then, besides financial costs, the money spent on compliance could be better spent on on-the-ground conservation.