Decentralized Payments for Environmental Services: The cases of Pimampiro and PROFAFOR in Ecuador

background

This article describes two payment for environmental services (PES) programs in Ecuador which, unlike programs run in other countries, are run by decentralized organizations: Pimampiro municipal watershed-protection scheme and PROFAFOR carbon-sequestration programme.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors conduct interviews, community workshops, and collect socioeconomic data to evaluate the programs for additionality (adding to conservation), welfare or poverty alleviation, and the control of leakage.

Conclusions & Takeaways

Both projects have benefited participants through additional income, have contributed to additionality of forest, and have had relatively low leakage. However, the authors assert that the added income, though beneficial, cannot be considered "poverty alleviation" and that many factors contribute to these "successes" beyond the project design.