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eforming environmentally harmful subsidies. Conversely,direct incentives may be applied in the formof grants or credit for beneficial technologies, suchas installation of low energy systems or visitor impactmanagement infrastructure. Improving the resilienceof infrastructure through ecosystem-basedadaptation and reducing risks of environmentaldisasters (e.g. by keeping/restoring protective mangrovesor forests) can be encouraged through insurancediscounts or the offer of reinsurance funds.Visitors can be bound to contribute to charge systems(entrance or user fees). More complex formsof instrument, such as insurance bonds and depositrefund schemes, can be used as mitigation againstpossible future environmental damage. Trust fundsfor conservation can be established through userrights instruments such as tourism concessions,public-private partnerships and lease agreements.Limits for boat visitation to marine parks by tradablepermit schemes, for instance, can ensure distributionof benefits while keeping visitor volumeswithin acceptable limits. Incentives can be appliedeffectively at a community level. 67Less directly, environmental management and otherconditions may be placed on tourism businessesseeking funding through financial subsidies such asloans, grants and micro-credit schemes which makeworking capital available to SMEs. Several multiandbilateral agencies already utilize biodiversityrelatedinvestment guidelines and safeguards. TheInter-American Development Bank has developed anEnvironment and Safeguards Compliance Policy 68 .The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)has a set of guidelines for environmental and socialconsiderations for investments since 2010 69 . Anotherexample is IFC’s Performance Standard 6 onBiodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Managementof Living Natural Resources, see box below.More economic instruments are covered in Section 8on management activity.Box 12: International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standard 6Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural ResourcesLeading development banks and financial institutions recognize that the conservation of biodiversity, including the services andproducts that natural habitats provide to human society, is fundamental to their vision of long-term sustainable development.IFC’s Environmental and Social Performance Standards define their clients’ responsibilities for managing environmental andsocial risks and apply to all investment and advisory clients whose projects will go through IFC’s initial credit review process. Theobjectives of Performance Standard 6 are• To protect and conserve biodiversity.• To maintain the benefits from ecosystem services.• To promote the sustainable management of living natural resources through the adoption of practices which integrate conservationneeds and development priorities.Conditions attached to finance for implementing or operating a project require that those responsible should seek to avoidimpacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services. When avoidance of impacts is not possible, measures are to be implementedto minimize impacts and restore biodiversity and ecosystem services. Differing condition are placed on projects depending onthe nature of the habitat in which they are to be located. For example, more stringent requirements apply to projects in ‘CriticalHabitats’ than to those in ‘Natural Habitats’. 70 Tourism Supporting Biodiversity 31An area of very particular relevance to biodiversitythat has been increasingly recognized for itsimportance in the tourism sector is the processof granting a licence or concession to a businessto operate in a particular area, such as a nationalpark, thereby conveying an economic advantage.The time when concessions are advertised andnegotiated presents a very important window ofopportunity for placing requirements on the developmentand operation of businesses, includingtheir environmental management and support forbiodiversity. Guidance on the letting of concessionsfor tourism in protected areas has been thesubject of a number of studies, including a recentpublication from the United Nations DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP). 71More comprehensive discussion of the use of economicinstruments for tourism and biodiversitymay be found elsewhere. 72