Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Latin America: Analysing the performance of 40 case studies

Abstract

Market instruments such as Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) emerged as a concept to compensate and encourage landowners to improve land management practices for the maintenance and provision of ecosystem services. Since the early 1990s hundreds of PES schemes have been implemented around the world with varying levels of success. The high investments required to implement such schemes, and the stakes involved, argue for an analysis of PES cases to determine factors that contribute to a particular outcome. The paper analyses 40 PES cases in Latin America providing insights that will inform policy and decision makers in designing future PES initiatives with higher chances of success. In this study we analyse each case using a set of criteria (related to ecosystem type, compensation package and incentives, spatial and temporal scales, institutional arrangements, and policy frameworks) to determine those most important for a particular outcome. These insights provide information on programme factors that contribute to the potential for success of a given PES scheme. Although this classification can be further improved, it provides a useful reference for decision-makers on what might be considered best practice on the ground concerning PES schemes.