1,718 research outputs found
Between purity and reality: Taking stock of PES schemes in the Andes
No full textThis editorial by Sven Wunder, Senior Economist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Belém, Brazil, describes findings from a survey of PES field initiatives in the Andes.PES-1 (Payments for Environmental Services Associate Award
Selection biases and spillovers from collective conservation incentives in the Peruvian Amazon
No full textAbstract Payments for ecosystem services are becoming popular components in strategies to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity, but their effectiveness remains poorly documented. Here we present counterfactual-based evidence on the conservation outcomes of the pilot stage of Peru’s National Forest Conservation Program (NFCP). The NFCP provides direct payments to indigenous communities in the Amazon, conditional on avoided deforestation and the adoption of sustainable production systems. Using a spatially explicit quasi-experimental evaluation design, we show that the payment scheme has achieved only small conservation impacts, in terms of avoided deforestation. Counter-intuitively, these materialized largely on land not enrolled for conservation, due to spillover effects. Conservation effects on contracted land were negligible because communities were not chosen according to high deforestation threats, and they self-enrolled low-pressure forest areas for conservation. Occasional non-sanctioned contract incompliance contributed to these outcomes. We highlight implications for the design and implementation of up-scaled national conservation programs. Methodologically, we demonstrate the important role of choosing the appropriate spatial scale in evaluating area-based conservation measures.Video AbstractDeutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001655Direktoratet for Utviklingssamarbeid https://doi.org/10.13039/100007843Robert Bosch Stiftung https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001646Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung https://doi.org/10.13039/50110000234
Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
No full textConditional incentives are a promising complementary approach to conserve tropical forests, for example, in multiple-use protected areas. In this paper we analyze the environmental impacts of Bolsa Floresta, a forest conservation program that combines direct conditional payments with livelihood-focused investments in 15 multiple-use reserves in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. We use grid-based data, nearest-neighbor matching, and panel data econometrics to compare three forest-related program outcomes – deforestation, degradation, and fires – of participating and non-participating reserve areas. Forest threats were low before and after treatment, because the program prioritized low-pressure sites. Thus, we find significant but small additional conservation effects from the implementation of the program. Notwithstanding, treatment effects are relatively larger in areas with higher deforestation pressure and higher potential agricultural income. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence showing that adverse spatial targeting of conservation incentives, i.e. disproportionally enrolling low–pressure sites, is a prime cause for the low additionality found in rigorous impact evaluations of many existing initiatives.http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007843 Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 German Research Foundationhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Federal Ministry of Education and Research Bonn Offic
Economic incentives for reducing wildfire risk: Taking stock of an emerging field
No full texthttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010661 Horizon 2020 Framework Programmehttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005156 Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftun
Lykke E. Andersen, Clive W. J. Granger, Eustaquio J. Reis, Diana Weinhold And Sven Wunder, The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002
No full textJayet Hubert. Lykke E. Andersen, Clive W. J. Granger, Eustaquio J. Reis, Diana Weinhold And Sven Wunder, The Dynamics of Deforestation and Economic Growth in the Brazilian Amazon, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2002. In: Cahiers d'Economie et sociologie rurales, N°72, 3e trimestre 2004. pp. 115-117
What works? State-of-the-art synthesis report about best-practice design and implementation of PES and other IM in the European context
No full textPayments for ecosystem services (PES) are increasingly implementedworldwide. However, PES emergence is often limited by preconditions related to secured land rights, ES user institutions,and users’ sustained willingness to pay. In Europe the prevalence of large protected areas and regulations, combinations of large state forests and fragmented private forestlands, and a vision of the state as responsiblefor the environment have limited PES adoption. In principle, PES aredirect, flexible, and potentially effective. However, PES economic functioning is largely dependent on theirdesign and implementation. Adverse self-selection, inadequate administrative targeting, and ill-enforced conditionality constitute three key design obstacles. Policies such as spatial targeting to service density, threatsand cost levels,payment differentiation, and improved conditionality are factors that can alleviate the design challenges. Therefore, PES site selection needs to further move into high-threat areasto increase impacts. Thisalso requires the political will to boost environmental effects
Working paper synthesizing first results of the user-friendly inventory of IM in Europe (T1.1-1.3) for conducting knowledge-sharing activities (T2.4)
No full textThe deliverable synthesizes the rationale, the methodology and the preliminary results of the inventory of IM in Europe carried out within SINCERE T1.1-1.3 (WP1). After having introduced the meaning and relevance of Forest Ecosystem Services, it explores the most important policy tools applied in environmental conservation. It then attempts at providing working definitions for “mechanism” and “innovation”, with the intention of guiding the discussion, further developing the concept and achieving a final shared definition of IMs. The deliverable also introduces the proposed framework for systematizing information on IM and presents some preliminary results based on the analysis of the 122 cases of European Innovative Mechanisms identified so far. The conclusive section summarizes the emerging knowledge on the design of IM worldwide by comparing theory with the main patterns of de facto design and implementation of mechanisms
Working paper synthesizing first results of the user-friendly inventory of IM in Europe
No full textThe deliverable synthesizes the rationale, the methodology and the preliminary results of the inventory of IM in Europe carried out within SINCERE T1.1-1.3 (WP1). After having introduced the meaning and relevance of Forest Ecosystem Services, it explores the most important policy tools applied in environmental conservation. It then attempts at providing working definitions for “mechanism” and “innovation”, with the intention of guiding the discussion, further developing the concept and achieving a final shared definition of IMs. The deliverable also introduces the proposed framework for systematizing information on IM and presents some preliminary results based on the analysis of the 122 cases of European Innovative Mechanisms identified so far. The conclusive section summarizes the emerging knowledge on the design of IM worldwide by comparing theory with the main patterns of de facto design and implementation of mechanisms
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