Payments For Ecosystem Services Programs Research Articles

Sustained participation in a Payments for Ecosystem Services program reduces deforestation in a Mexican agricultural frontier

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) provide conditional incentives for forest conservation. PES short-term effects on deforestation are well-documented, but we know less about program effectiveness when participation is sustained over time. Here, we assess the impact of consecutive renewals of PES contracts on deforestation and forest degradation in three municipalities of the Selva Lacandona (Chiapas, Mexico). PES reduced deforestation both after a single 5-year contract and after two consecutive contracts, but the impacts are only detectable in higher deforestation-risk parcels. Enrollment duration increases PES impact in these parcels, which suggests a positive cumulative effect over time. These findings suggest that improved spatial targeting and longer-term enrollment are key enabling factors to improve forest conservation outcomes in agricultural frontiers.

Creating synergies between payments for ecosystem services, green bonds, and catastrophe insurance markets for enhanced environmental resilience

This study explores the potential of promoting sustainable land utilization practices through leveraging financial tools like green bonds, payment for ecosystem services (PES), and catastrophe insurance. In the proposed framework, a private manager issues green bonds to fund the replacement of degraded grasslands with forests, delivering the added advantages of replenishing stream water and protecting downstream hydropower plants from flooding. The downstream community engages in a PES agreement to enhance their water supply, while the hydropower plant secures flooding insurance from the manager, who utilizes green bond funding to cover potential damages following flooding. The study formulates a dynamic optimization model for the allocation of green bonds to support oak tree-led afforestation, ultimately bolstering the resilience of downstream communities and the power infrastructure. Results suggest that this green bond-based strategy holds promise for expeditious replacement of degraded grasslands with forests and can enhance ecosystem resilience by encouraging sustainable land use transformations. Furthermore, the research uncovers the potential for synergistic interactions between PES, green bonds, and catastrophe insurance markets. PES programs can also assist in repaying investments made through green bonds, while green bonds enable faster afforestation, leading to increased income from PES and improved resilience against flooding events.

Primate richness and abundance is driven by both forest structure and conservation scenario in Costa Rica.

Variation in tropical forest management directly affects biodiversity and provisioning of ecosystem services on a global scale, thus it is necessary to compare forests under different conservation approaches such as protected areas, payments for ecosystem services programs (PES), and ecotourism, as well as forests lacking any formal conservation plan. To examine the effectiveness of specific conservation approaches, we examined differences in forest structure and tree recruitment, including canopy cover; canopy height; seedling, sapling, and adult tree density; and average and total diameter at breast height (DBH) across 78 plots in 18 forests across Costa Rica representing protected areas, private forests utilizing PES and/or ecotourism, and private forests not utilizing these economic incentives. The effectiveness of conservation approaches in providing suitable primate habitat was assessed by conducting broad primate census surveys across a subset of eight forests to determine species richness and group encounter rate of three primate species: mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata), Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), and the white-faced capuchin monkey (Cebus imitator). Only canopy height was significantly different across the three approaches, with protected areas conserving the tallest and likely oldest forests. Canopy height was also significantly associated with the group encounter rate for both mantled howler and spider monkeys, but not for capuchins. Total group encounter rate for all three monkey species combined was higher in incentivized forests than in protected areas, with capuchin and howler monkey group encounter rates driving the trend. Group encounter rate for spider monkeys was higher in protected areas than in incentivized forests. Incentivized conservation (PES and ecotourism) and protected areas are paragons of land management practices that can lead to variation in forest structure across a landscape, which not only protect primate communities, but support the dietary ecologies of sympatric primate species.

Who benefits from payments for ecosystem services? Policy lessons from a forest carbon sink program in China

To secure effective and sustainable climate change policies, it is of the utmost importance to create synergies between socioeconomic and environmental development goals. Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs are being promoted as a suitable mechanism furthering, among others, carbon offsetting and poverty reduction in ecologically fragile areas of developing countries. Rural households are compensated for the loss of property and business income through income transfers and potential job opportunities connected to environmental programs. While the potential pro-poor effects of such policies are well recognized, the impact of PES on extremely poor households has not been systematically reviewed. Drawing on a pooled cross-sectional dataset of 5225 households in the Province of Sichuan, this paper analyzes the income and distributional effects among poor households in rural China participating in a forest carbon sink (FCS) program. To be able to make causal inferences, we employ an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach to control for potential endogeneity and self-selection. Our results indicate a strong need to adjust the PES program: While moderately poor rural households benefit from program participation, extremely poor rural households, in fact, suffer net losses. The main reason is that income reduction resulting from limited access to forest resources is compensated mainly via wage income from participating in forest tending work. Extremely poor households with low labor ability cannot make use of these job opportunities, and thus they'll not only fail to benefit but even incur losses from a PES program. While PES programs can be a viable tool for poverty reduction in underdeveloped regions due to their overall pro-poorness, they need to be accompanied by additional benefits for extremely poor rural households to avoid net losses among marginalized population groups especially.

Motivations for, and barriers to, landowner participation in Argentina's payments for ecosystem services program

AbstractPayments for ecosystem services (PES) programs are a common policy tool to conserve forests. Effective PES programs attain conservation and social equity outcomes by actively engaging diverse landowners in long‐term land stewardship and meeting landowners’ needs. In 2017–2018, we conducted 32 in‐depth interviews with landowners, technicians, and government officials to attain insights into how the PES program in Salta province, Argentina, has performed in terms of (1) motivating landowners to enroll in PES, and (2) ensuring their satisfaction with the design and performance of the program, a necessary precondition to ensure long‐term forest stewardship. Interviewees suggested that landowners enroll in PES because they are restricted from engaging in more profitable land uses, they are not reliant on income from their land, they need PES payments to cover their land management costs, they are unable or unwilling to sell their land because their property values have been adversely impacted by land‐use restrictions, they want to sustainably manage forested land, and/or they want to protect their property rights. Interviewees stated that land title requirements, conflicts over user rights, and high transaction costs hinder PES enrollment and exacerbate social conflicts between landowners and indigenous communities. Finally, interviewees questioned the conservation effectiveness of the PES program, owing to the program design and inadequate funding. Our findings suggest that engaging technicians, landowners, and indigenous communities in discussions on how the structure of the PES program could be improved might allow for shared learning, improved institutional trust, and the design of more flexible contracts that would facilitate sustained conservation and improved social equity.

Determinants and costs of strategic enrollment of landowners in a payments for ecosystem services program in a deforestation hotspot: The Argentine Chaco forest

Understanding landowners’ decisions about how much land to enroll in payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs is essential to strategically target lands for conservation, prevent forest fragmentation, and thus maintain ecosystem services. In this study, we targeted private lands surrounding and connecting public protected areas in a deforestation hotspot, the Argentine Chaco forest. We used alternatively configured PES contracts in choice experiments to understand landowners’ decisions regarding how much land to enroll in PES. We found that factors influencing decisions on how much land to enroll differ from those influencing willingness to participate in PES. The percentage of their property that landowners were willing to enroll in the program increased with higher payments and permitted land use that closely aligned with traditional land use, specifically cattle ranching under tree canopy. Contract length was important in willingness to enroll but not in amount of land enrolled. Payments required to enroll all land in our study area, and thus conserve an unfragmented landscape, exceeded the financial resources of the Argentine PES program. Designing PES to enroll private lands on smaller strategic areas, in conjunction with other conservation initiatives, would be more effective than attempting to use PES alone to conserve large landscapes.

Does central ecological transfer payment enhance local environmental performance? Quasi-experimental evidence from China

Central transfer payment for the key ecosystem zones has become the most funded payments for ecosystem services program in China. The ecological fiscal transfer (EFT) aims to improve the eco-environmental quality of the targeted counties by providing supplementary fiscal funds, though not strictly specifying the usage. This study employs a time-varying difference-in-difference strategy to investigate the impact of EFT on environmental outcome by using a comprehensive county-level dataset covering 1949 counties from 2004 to 2015. Estimates show that the policy had a positive impact on local air quality, whereas the dynamic effect is diminishing. The policy effect is achieved through more stringent environmental regulation and stricter industrial access. Reduction of industrial dust emission is more noticeable than that of sulfur dioxide. There is an economic scale effect that the scale of a county can increase effectiveness of EFT on air quality improvement, whereas an opposite development stage effect will undermine its effectiveness. Heterogeneities were detected concerning transfer intensity, intervention period, geographical region, and ecosystem type. These findings facilitate a deep understanding how EFT could play a significant role in protecting local environment in large developing countries. Several policy implications are drawn to enhance the effectiveness of the largest EFT program.

Grain-for-green accelerates functional restoration of rodent-mediated seed dispersal

The Grain-for-Green Program in China is one of the largest payments for ecosystem services programs, and it is regarded as effective for protecting the ecological environment and mitigating disasters. However, research into the effects of revegetation on seed dispersal as an ecosystem service remains limited. Thus, we compared the effects of different types of vegetation restoration (i.e., natural forest (NF), Grain-for-Green forest (GG), and abandoned cropland (AC)) in the Taihang Mountains on the rodent abundance, seed dispersal, and seedling recruitment in Quercus variabilis forest and the pathways involved. The results showed that NF and GG clearly had similar effects on the rodent composition and abundance, but the seed removal rate, seed dispersal distance, and scatter-hoarded proportion were higher under GG than AC, thereby indicating that GG may provide a similar seed dispersal service compared to NF. By contrast, the scatter-hoarding acorn proportions and dispersal distance were significantly lower under AC than NF. Therefore, GG stands could supply an equivalent seed dispersal service to NF, as well as increasing the rodent composition and abundance, and improving the seed dispersal services and capacity for plant movement, thereby contributing to accelerated vegetation restoration at the landscape scale, with significant implications for conserving biodiversity.

Applied nucleation under high biodiversity silvopastoral system as an adaptive strategy against microclimate extremes in pasture areas.

This study aimed to assess the influence of the high biodiversity silvopastoral system (SPSnu) on the microclimate, pasture production, and pasture chemical composition. Microclimate variables and pasture production and chemical composition were measured in pared paddocks under SPSnu and treeless pasture (TLP) in a commercial farm during four seasons in Southern Brazil. SPSnu measurements were subdivided into two areas: around the nuclei (AN) and area inter-nuclei (IN). In the TLP paddocks, we plotted fictitious nuclei with the same areas and distributions of SPSnu, however without trees. For the microclimate measurements, these areas were noted when shaded or unshaded by the nuclei trees. In each season, the microclimate variables air temperature (AT, °C), relative humidity (RH, %), illuminance (Ilu, lux), wind speed (WS, m/s), and soil surface temperature (SST, °C) were measured. In addition, botanical composition (%), pasture production (kg/DM/ ha), and pasture chemical composition were evaluated. The SPSnu provided the lowest values of microclimate variables in all seasons (p < 0.05), except for the relative humidity. Winter had the highest thermal amplitude in the systems. The highest difference between SPSnu and TLP for AT (4.3°C) and SST (5.2°C) was measured during the hot seasons (spring and summer). In contrast, during cold seasons (autumn and winter) it observed highest thermal amplitude between SPSnu and TLP. Overall, the highest annual pasture production was observed in the SPSnu (p < 0.05). During the summer, the SPSnu areas showed the highest values of crude protein and dry matter (p < 0.05). During the winter, the TLP showed the lowest values (p < 0.05) of pasture production and dry matter. It was observed that SPSnu improved the microclimate at the pasture level, influencing pasture production and pasture chemical composition. The enhanced microclimate can partially mitigate some of the effects of climate change on pastoral agroecosystems, creating conditions for ecological rehabilitation of ecosystem processes and services. These conditions could be amplified to a biome level through a payment for ecosystem services program.

Preferences for a payment for ecosystem services program to control forest fires in Burkina Faso: A choice experiment

The successful implementation of a payments for ecosystem services (PES) program depends on a mix of incentives, including nonmonetary incentives. This study investigates local households' willingness to enroll in a PES program that controls forest fires in the Nazinon forest of Burkina Faso. A choice experiment is conducted with 200 household heads to elicit their preferences for the different attributes of the proposed PES program. Five attributes are considered, namely, forms of technical assistance, use restrictions, the number of monitoring trips conducted, the width of the implemented firewall, and monthly financial incentives. A mixed logit model specified in the preference space is used to examine the heterogeneity of preferences for the PES program's attributes. We provide estimates for marginal willingness-to-accept values of the considered attributes. The results indicate that the current PES reduces respondents' satisfaction and decreases the probability of their uptake. Furthermore, the results show that increasing the frequency of monitoring, the width of firewall bands, and technical assistance and improving financial incentives promote households' utility. This study provides valuable insights for policymakers to guide the future design of PES programs and encourage user support to combat forest resource degradation.

China’s grassland ecological compensation policy achieves win-win goals in Inner Mongolia

Approximately 10% of China’s grasslands are severely degraded and 90% of them are overgrazed. To protect ecosystems and boost human well-being, payments for ecosystem services programs have been implemented to generate win-win outcomes for pastoralists and the grasslands. Taking a payment for ecosystem services program in Damao County, Inner Mongolia as an example, our study evaluated the ecological effects of the Grassland Ecological Compensation Policy (GECP) based on historical trends at the pixel, parcel, and county levels. We also evaluated the socioeconomic effects of GECP using both objective and subjective well-being at the household level. Our results show that: (1) at the pixel level, the percentages of additionally increased Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Net Primary Production (NPP) were 93.4% and 93.3% after GECP implementation, corresponding to the average additional effects of 0.08 and 58.99 g C/m2, respectively. At the parcel level, the GECP additionally increased NDVI between 0.02–0.17 (average of 0.08) and increased NPP between 28.36–115.15 (average of 60.30) g C/m2, respectively. At the county level, the GECP additionally increased grassland NDVI and NPP by 0.07 (∼3.4% annually) and 53.63 g C/m2 (∼4.5% annually) from 2008 to 2020, respectively; and (2) the GECP implementation significantly improved pastoralists’ objective well-being (P < 0.01) while the effects on subjective well-being indices were mixed. Our results also show that GECP effects on objective and subjective well-being significantly differ from households with large rangeland to those with small rangeland. We further discussed the experience, challenges, and opportunities of GECP. The long-term sustainability of GECP, particularly socioeconomic sustainability, still remains challenging and relies on guiding pastoralists to find alternative livelihoods. For future research and policy improvement, we call for the establishment of a better policy compensation mechanism that jointly considers the ecological effectiveness, economic efficiency, and social equity.

Review on the Socioecological Performance of Grassland Ecological Payment and Award Policy with the Consideration of an Alternate Approach for Nonequilibrium Ecosystems

As a large-scale Payment for Ecosystem Services program targeting grasslands on a global scale, the Chinese Grassland Ecological Payment and Award Policy (GEPAP) was implemented for two rounds until 2020, but its performance continues to be debated. In addition, equilibrium (E) and nonequilibrium (NE) ecosystem theory, which is believed to be an important perspective for researching grassland management, has not received enough attention. Therefore, based on E and NE ecosystem theory, this study summarizes herdsmen's attitudes and responses to the GEPAP. It then reviews and analyzes the ecological and socioeconomic effects of this policy by reviewing and organizing literature published since the policy was first implemented in 2011. It is found that 1) herdsmen neither felt clearly satisfied with nor actively responded to the GEPAP in both the E and NE systems; 2) In E grassland systems, the GEPAP has generally restored grasslands to some extent, except for the Xinjiang region. It also promoted an increase in herdsmen's total household income, changes in income structure, and reformations of livestock husbandry; 3) In NE grassland systems, the GEPAP did not significantly improve either the grassland ecological environment or local socioeconomic development. Therefore, it is advised that the GEPAP could beneficially continue, albeit with some improvements, in E systems; however, in contrast, it should be stopped and substituted with other grassland management modes such as community-based grassland management in NE systems. These findings are important for the improvement of Payment for Ecosystem Services programs both nationally and globally.

Relationship between Payment for Ecosystem Services Programs and Disasters in Southeast Atlantic Forest region, Brazil

Ecosystem services significantly contribute to ecosystems resilience and stability. In this sense, payment for ecosystem services can be designed and applied to prevent or decrease environmental disaster risks. This study aimed at verifying whether municipalities taking part in PES programs present higher number of natural disasters (flood, drought, landslide and fire) between 2009 and 2020 in the Paraíba do Sul river basin. We expected that municipalities having more disaster events would take part in more projects, which we found. Programs can be implemented in response to the increase in natural disasters. We also expected PES calls to explicitly target natural disaster prevention measures and actions, which we did not observe. We found actions related to soil conservation and vegetation cover that might prevent risks, but there were no mentions of disasters. It is concerning that PES in Vale do Paraíba Paulista programs have not been addressing natural disaster risk reduction in a landscape, where floods, droughts, anthropogenic fires and erosion problems associated with hilly reliefs have been increasing in the last years.

Linking green bond yields to the species composition of forests for improving forest quality and sustainability

Forests in India's Himalayan region are undergoing rapid degradation owing to various climatic and man-made stressors, such as invasive species spread and excessive lopping and harvesting of trees. Invasive plants, such as L. camara, pose significant threats to the rich biodiversity of the region due to their ability to replace native vegetation and spread rapidly under a warming climate. Additionally, chir pines (P. roxburghii) are replacing banj oak (Q. leucotrichophora) forests. Oak forests support rich biodiversity and are also preferred by the local communities for meeting their livelihood requirements. In this study, we ask whether green bonds could be utilized for financing the restoration of desirable forest species and enhancing their resilience to natural hazards such as fires. In particular, we explore the possibility of linking green bond yields to the species composition of forests for incentivizing the protection of oak forests. We develop an optimization model of community led restoration of oak and pine forests that are infested with L. camara. Restoring oak forests mitigates the risk of forest fires, improves forest water supply, and controls the spread of the invasive lantana. Findings indicate that such species composition based green bonds, when coupled with payments for ecosystem services programs, can indeed incentivize higher restoration efforts, resulting in an improvement in the biodiversity richness of the region.

Pathways from the payment for ecosystem services program to ecological and socio-economic outcomes

As a new natural resource management tool based on financial incentives, payment for ecosystem services (PES) plays a vital role in balancing socio-economic development and ecological protection. China’s Sloping land conversion program (SLCP) is one of the most expensive PES programs in the world, and its implementation effectiveness has received much attention. However, the complex mechanism by which project implementation affects socio-economic development and ecosystem services remains elusive. To reveal the interaction pathways between PES programs, socio-economic development, and the natural environment, Loess Plateau, a key region for SLCP implementation in China, was selected as the subject of this study. Furthermore, the RUSLE model was adopted to evaluate the changes in soil conservation services between 2000 and 2015. Based on the Structural equation model (SEM), the links between SLCP, agricultural development, population transfer, urbanization, natural environment, and ecosystem services were investigated. The results showed that the soil conservation services in Loess Plateau were significantly improved after SLCP implementation, with a total increase of 13.88 × 108 t from 2000 to 2015. The long-term socio-economic impact of SLCP was not significant, except for the first stage of SLCP implementation where agricultural development was inhibited. The implementation of SLCP directly improved soil conservation services and improved soil conservation services through through its indirect effect on agricultural development. We also found that the different stages of SLCP implementation had different effects on the improvement of soil conservation services. The efficiency of the second stage was higher than that of the first stage. Socio-economic factors and natural environmental conditions had negative effects on soil conservation services. In addition, the socio-economic effects of SLCP implementation varied at different stages. Based on the study results, we suggest that the subsequent SLCP implementation should focus on maintaining the results, and the impact of different socio-economic factors should be considered. This study provides a framework for a better understanding of the complex mechanisms through which SLCP affects socio-economic, ecosystem services, and natural conditions.

Integrated assessment of a payment for ecosystem services program in China from the effectiveness, efficiency and equity perspective

Despite growing interest in understanding the outcomes of payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs, there are few systematic and quantitative studies, particularly integrated assessments that consider ecological effectiveness, economic efficiency, and social equity (3E). By integrating remote sensing images, geographic information, household survey data, and policy documents, we present a demonstration from China between 2000 and 2015, which implemented PES programs extensively. At the forest patch level, the Ecological Welfare Forest Program (EWFP) increased forest coverage by 1.35%–2.03%. Furthermore, the EWFP respectively added 68.23–72.55 ton ha−1, 1.87–2.09 ton ha−1, 23.39–35.81 ton ha−1, and 10.12–11.11 MWh ha−1 of water conservation, soil retention, flood regulation, and local climate regulation services. Our results were consistent using different impact evaluation methods. However, forest recovery was achieved at high economic cost, with one hectare increase of forest cover costing 211,000–319,000 USD. EWFP participants experienced lower increases in human well-being and more unequal income distribution compared to non-participants, largely due to the rapid and disproportional increase of business income such as nature-based tourism. We provide recommendations to improve the multidimensional outcomes of PES programs in our study area and beyond. Although our study is an integrated assessment of one PES program, the 3E perspective and methodology may also apply to other conservation policies.

Socio-economic impacts of scaling back a massive payments for ecosystem services programme in China.

This paper examines the socio-economic implications of scaling back China's Sloping Land Conversion Programme (SLCP), one of the world's largest payments for ecosystem services programmes. Using the consolidation phase of SLCP as a natural experiment, a staggered difference-in-differences design is applied to a panel of rural villages (and households) located in poor and ecologically fragile areas. SLCP consolidation, consisting of a 50% subsidy reduction and suspension of a job training programme, leads to larger income declines in treated villages driven by a reduction in the likelihood that SLCP households transition from farm to non-farm work. These harmful socio-economic effects disappear, however, in villages with stronger land rights and more job training prior to consolidation. When these favourable site-specific characteristics exist, SLCP households remain equally engaged in off-farm work even after subsidy payments and training resources are scaled back. Moreover, on aggregate, village income losses are no longer detectable. The findings provide partial support in favour of the behavioural permanence thesis, highlighting the important role of prevailing local characteristics in mitigating harmful development effects otherwise brought about by programme roll-back.

Considering Farmers’ Heterogeneity to Payment Ecosystem Services Participation: A Choice Experiment and Agent-Based Model Analysis in Xin’an River Basin, China

The concept of watershed ecological compensation is one payment for ecosystem services (PES) program that incentivizes stakeholders undertake environmental conservation activities that improve the provision of ecosystem services. Defining the heterogeneity of farmers’ willingness to participate in watershed ecological compensation is critically important for fully understanding stakeholders’ demands. Accordingly, we designed a choice experiment survey to analyze the heterogeneity of policy preferences and willingness to receive compensation between upstream and midstream farmers in Xin’an River basin, China. Moreover, we simulated the impact of farmers’ social capitals’ heterogeneity with an agent-based model. The results show that there are significant differences in the preferences of agricultural waste recycling rate and agricultural water quality between farmers in the upstream and midstream. The total willingness of farmers in the upstream and midstream to participate in ecological compensation are RMB 149.88 (USD 22.54)/month and RMB 57.40 yuan (USD 8.63)/month, respectively. Social network size has a negative effect on farmers’ willingness to participate the programs. Our findings suggest that the characteristics of farmers’ influence their willingness to participate in the PES program. The results of this research can be used to improve PES management policies in the future, as well as to support sustainable environmental development and rural revitalization.

Impact of precipitation on the two‐stage grassland eco‐subsidy policy effect on stocking reduction in Inner Mongolia, China

AbstractChina launched the Grassland Ecological Subsidy Policy in 2011 for restoring grassland ecology by paying pastoralists to downsize stocking on the degraded grasslands and compensate their income loss from livestock reduction. The policy, the largest payment for ecosystem services program targeting pastoralism in the world, has been so far through two 5‐year stages: 2011 to 2015 with a subsidy at 1.5 CNY per standard mu per year and 2016 to 2020 at 2.5 CNY increased to boost the stocking reduction. How was the boost effect? We investigated that stocking responses in 2010, 2015 and 2018 using the panel data of 410 herder households in the subpolicy forage‐livestock balance areas in Inner Mongolia, China, tested various attributes on stocking rate and stocking reduction rate at the two stages of the policy using econometric models of random effects and ordinary least squares. This study is the first empirical case containing the two 5‐year policy data and with both subsidy and precipitation effects. We confirmed the regulating impact of precipitation on the subsidy policy effect, and more precipitation in the second stage appeared to offset the effect of the increased subsidy. We suggested changing the subsidy targeting mechanism from rewarding stocking reduction to direct grassland restoration.

Contradictory distributive principles and land tenure govern benefit-sharing of payments for ecosystem services (PES) in Chiapas, Mexico

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are incentive-based instruments that provide conditional economic incentives for natural resources management. Research has shown that when economic incentives are parachuted into rural communities, participation and benefits are collectively negotiated and shared. However, we know little about how benefit-sharing evolves over time in community-based PES. To address this gap, we examine distributional justice in four communities of the state of Chiapas, Mexico, which participate in a PES programme, and we assess how local justice principles compare with the programme’s goals. Our analysis reveals patterns of both continuity and change in how communities share PES benefits, which reflect a suite of contradictory justice principles, including entitlement, merit, need, and equality. The studied communities distribute PES benefits by providing differentiated compensation to diverse groups of landholders via private cash payments, whilst also attending non-landed community members through public infrastructure investments. We show that benefit-sharing is strongly influenced by pre-existing land tenure features and associated norms, which in the study area include three different types of individual and common-property. Yet, we also show that communities continuously adjust benefit-sharing arrangements to navigate distributional challenges emerging from programme engagement. Overall, we provide novel insights on the evolution, diversity, and complexity of distributive justice in community-based PES and we advocate for a context-sensitive, nuanced, and dynamic account of justice in incentive-based conservation.