Payments for Environmental Services through the Local Lens: Preliminary evidences from the “Bolsa Floresta” Program in the Brazilian Amazon

Background

This master's thesis evaluates the differences in perceptions between the local beneficiaries and the proponents of a payment for exosystem services (PES) project in the Brazilian Amazon region. The document discusses the debate about whether Payment for Environmental Services (PES) schemes improve the livelihood of the poor rural population — a debate which is also critical to current discussions on REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation).

Conclusions & Takeaways

In June, 2007 the “Bolsa Floresta” Program was created which ensures a payment to families living in Conservation Units in the state of Amazonas for allowing the forest to remain standing. Up to the moment at the Sustainable Development Reserve (SDR) Uatumã,365 families have been already registered into the program and 325 are by now receiving its benefits. The results indicate that at the SDR Uatumã the perception of the local traditional communities differs in some aspects with the objectives proposed by the “Bolsa Floresta” Program, specifically in terms of the non-financial benefits received by the communities.