Resource management programs are underpinned by one or
a mix of four main policy instruments (Table 1), the choice of
which may be crucial to the success of any conservation strategy.
Regulatory instruments (e.g., vegetation clearing controls) can be
used to alter property rights; educational instruments provide
information to administrators and participants of programs or to
landholders in general; voluntary2
instruments can engage land-
holders who have a self-interest in conservation (e.g., Australia’s
Landcare program, European voluntary agreements, and US
conservation easements); and economic instruments can be used
to assist landholders with the opportunity or management costs
associated with conservation activities (e.g., Australia’s Ecotender
and Bushtender schemes, the US Conservation Reserve Program,
and European agri-environmental schemes) or to impose financia