A Hostile Takeover of Nature? Placing Value in Conservation Finance. Issue 1 (1st June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kay, Kelly
• Is Part Of: Antipode. Volume 50:Issue 1(2018)
• Page Start: 164
• Page End: 183
• Publication Date: 2017-06-01
• Subjects: political economy -- conservation -- financialization -- hostile takeover -- timber investment management organizations; Geography -- Periodicals; 910.5
• DOI: 10.1111/anti.12335
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0066-4812

Abstract

Abstract: Conservation finance is a nascent field that claims to "deliver maximum conservation impacts, while, at the same time, generating returns for investors" (Credit Suisse/WWF). While geographers have questioned the ability of conservation finance to play a significant role in international biodiversity conservation, an emerging cohort of boutique private equity firms are actively generating returns on North American conservation projects. This raises the question: how are these firms generating profits, and in turn, returns for their shareholders? Drawing from a Marxian understanding of finance as redistributive, I argue that these firms are generating profits through a process similar to a corporate hostile takeover. Using the examples of ranchland and timberland investment in the United States, I show that (1) the materialities and historical geographies of these landscapes play a crucial role their monetization, and (2) shareholder returns are generated through a combination of traditional real estate sales and revaluations, public monies, and commodity production.