Understanding the Effectiveness of Payment for Ecosystem Service Programs

该项目考虑了哥斯达黎加生态系统服务(PES)项目付费的有效性。PES计划是一种迅速发展的保护机制，土地所有者因其林地的“下游”生态效益而获得报酬。这些项目越来越多地在世界各地实施，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复盖，对于衡量该计划的有效性至关重要，因为用于维持现状的土地复盖形式的支付是对稀缺保护资金的低效使用。尽管这一问题很重要，但关于生态系统服务付费在何种条件下实际在特定社会群体中产生额外的森林覆盖率的实证工作仍然很少。例如，人们对参加该计划的小农户的PES结果知之甚少。此外，对向小农支付款项可产生新的森林覆盖率的农业生产的社会条件仍然知之甚少。该项目将通过评估生态系统是否是在哥斯达黎加小农中产生新的森林复盖面的可行机制来解决这些问题。将通过参与性测绘活动和访谈收集有关家庭土地利用变化的数据。此外，接受环保措施的小农和非环保措施小农的对照组将被要求在三个不同的时间使用高分辨率遥感图像和航空照片来确定其土地的变化。将使用土地利用调查的数据来分析生态系统在多大程度上增加了森林复盖率。将同时进行一项家庭生计调查，询问家庭的资产、支出、生产和收入情况。来自家庭调查的数据将用于进行成本效益分析，以确定最有潜力将生态系统转化为森林的土地用途类型。调查数据也将被用来构建回归模型，以确定哪些家庭特征可能产生最有潜力由PES引起的森林转化的土地利用形式。该项目将通过经验评估PES是否在小农户中产生额外的森林复盖率，为PES的有效性提供新的见解。这项研究还将通过描绘特定的地面条件来促进对生态系统未来潜力的了解，这些条件允许生态系统可能转化为森林的小农土地使用。这项研究还具有超越PES特定学术的共鸣，因为它将通过明确研究塑造家庭土地使用决策的复杂政策和制度背景来促进关于热带森林过渡的知识。该项目包括研究生和本科生的参与，调查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.