Category: Ecological economics
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Troubled Encounters: Payments for Ecosystem Services in Chiapas, Mexico
Before, nobody could tell me what to do with my trees, because each of us is the owner of his parcel. But now, with the PES programme, it is forbidden to cut trees. [The consultant] said it only concerns members of PES working groups, but the ‘comisariado’ says everyone is affected (farmer NOT involved in […]
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PES and motivational crowding in Colombia
In a new article, led by UAB-ICTA’s PhD candidate Lina Moros, we adopt an innovative research design to test for motivational crowding effects through a forest conservation game in Colombia’s Amazon Piedmont, using individual, collective and crop-price premium economic incentives. We implement a post-experiment survey on different types of motivations based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) […]
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Payments for Environmental Services: a theory-informed review
Building on a theory-based approach to synthesize research on the effectiveness of PES in achieving environmental objectives and socio-economic co-benefits, this article led by Jan Börner and published in World Development highlights the role of (1) contextual dimensions (e.g., political, institutional, and socio-economic conditions, spatial heterogeneity in environmental service values and provision costs, and interactions with pre-existing […]
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Valuing nature, paying for ecosystem services and realizing social justice
In the latest volume of the journal Ecological Economics, I contribute to ongoing debates about the role of economic valuation in market-based conservation. I respond to an earlier piece by Brett Sylvester Matulis, nuance some of his arguments and set what I believe should be the new agenda for critical scholarship of market-based conservation. I […]
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Problematizing REDD+…
In a new paper entitled “Problematizing REDD+ as an experiment in payments for ecosystem services” and published in the leading journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, I shed light on a few problems and contradictions of the current global policy framework for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, and sustainably managing forest (REDD+). I argue […]