Understanding the Effectiveness of Payment for Ecosystem Service Programs

本项目考虑了哥斯达黎加生态系统服务支付（PES）项目的有效性。PES项目是一种迅速发展的保护机制，土地所有者可以根据其林地的“下游”生态效益获得报酬。这些项目越来越多地在世界范围内实施，然而，人们对这种支付产生新形式森林覆盖的条件知之甚少。了解生态系统服务的支付在多大程度上产生了额外的森林覆盖，对于衡量该计划的有效性至关重要，因为支付给现有形式的土地覆盖是对稀缺保护资金的低效使用。尽管这个问题很重要，但关于生态系统服务支付在何种条件下实际在特定社会群体中产生额外森林覆盖的经验工作仍然缺乏。例如，人们对参加该计划的小农的PES结果知之甚少。此外，对农业生产的社会条件仍然知之甚少，在这种条件下，向小农付款可以产生新的森林覆盖。本项目将通过评价PES是否是哥斯达黎加小农增加森林覆盖率的可行机制来解决这些问题。关于家庭土地使用变化的数据将通过参与性制图工作和面谈收集。此外，将要求接受PES的小农和一组未接受PES的小农在三个不同时间使用高分辨率遥感图像和航空照片识别其土地的变化。将使用土地使用调查所得的数据，以分析PES产生额外森林覆盖的程度。同时进行家庭生活调查，对家庭的资产、支出、生产、收入等进行调查。将利用住户调查的数据进行成本效益分析，以确定最可能使PES转为森林的土地用途类型。调查数据还将用于建立回归模型，以便确定可能产生最有可能引起pes引起的森林转换的土地利用形式的家庭特征。该项目将通过实证评估PES是否在小农中产生额外的森林覆盖，为PES的有效性提供新的见解。这项研究还将通过描绘可将PES转化为森林的小农土地利用的具体地面条件，推进对PES未来潜力的认识。这项研究还具有超出pes特定学术范围的共鸣，因为它将通过明确研究影响家庭土地使用决策的复杂政策和制度背景，推进对热带森林过渡的认识。该项目包括研究生和本科生的参与，研究结果将在学术界和政策界传播。

This project considers the effectiveness of Payments for Ecosystems Services (PES) programs in Costa Rica. PES programs are a rapidly proliferating conservation mechanism whereby landowners are paid for the "downstream" ecological benefits of their forested land. These programs are increasingly implemented worldwide, however, the conditions under which such payments produce new forms of forest cover are poorly understood. Knowing the extent to which payments for ecosystem services produces additional forest cover is critical for gauging the effectiveness of this program as payments that go toward status quo forms of land cover are an inefficient use of scarce conservation funds. Despite the importance of this issue, there remains a paucity of empirical work concerning the conditions under which ecosystem service payments actually produce additional forest cover among specific social groups. For example, little is known about the outcomes of PES among smallholding farmers that enroll in this program. In addition, the social conditions of agricultural production under which payments to smallholders can produce new forest cover remains poorly understood. This project will address these issues by evaluating whether PES is a viable mechanism for producing new forest cover among smallholding farmers in Costa Rica. Data on household land-use change will be collected through the use of participatory mapping exercises as well as interviews. In addition, smallholders who receive PES, and a control group of non-PES smallholders, will be asked to identify changes in their land using high-resolution remote sensing images and aerial photos at three different times. Data from a land-use survey will be used in order to analyze the extent to which PES has produced additional forest cover. A household livelihoods survey will be concurrently undertaken in which households are queried on their assets, expenditures, production, and income. Data from the household survey will be used to conduct a cost-benefit analysis in order to determine the types of land uses that have the most potential for PES to convert into forest. Survey data will also be used to construct regression models in order to identify the household characteristics that are likely to produce forms of land-use with the most potential for PES-induced forest conversion.This project will provide new insights into the effectiveness of PES by empirically evaluating whether PES produces additional forest cover among smallholders. This research will also advance knowledge about the future potential of PES by delineating the specific on-the-ground conditions that allow for smallholder land uses that PES can potentially convert into forest. This research also has resonance beyond PES-specific scholarship as it will advance knowledge on tropical forest transitions by explicitly studying the complex policy and institutional context that shapes the land-use decisions of households. The project includes the participation of both graduate and undergraduate students and findings will be disseminated in the academic as well as the policy communities.