Monitoring of Compliance in Western Australian Conservation Contracts

Contracting with private landholders for labor towards production of environmental services (payment for actions) or the environmental services themselves (payment for outcomes) is reliant on the environmental organization’s ability to monitor and assess the environmental outcomes provided. Inaccurate and costly assessment reduces the cost effectiveness of the contract. Different assessment technologies will have different impacts on the cost effectiveness and optimal contracting choice of the environmental organization. The paper compares the influence of field assessment by a local expert, and remote assessment via satellite imagery, on the optimal contracting decision for the Western Australian wheat belt.