Informing the design of a payment for ecosystem services program in western Panama

Abstract

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have emerged as an incentive based tool to protect and restore ecosystem-service flows, which are being degraded at regional and global scales. This study examines the potential for PES to address conservation and livelihood issues in the buffer-zone of La Amistad Bi-national World Heritage Site in Western Panama, and provides insight for the equitable architecture of such a program. We conducted a survey of 344 farmers regarding their interest in a set of hypothetical PES programs. Many expressed interest in participating; interest was greatest for the agroforestry and forest conservation scenarios. Using logistic regression analysis, we identified explanatory factors which predict willingness to participate in a PES program. Several factors were related to household socioeconomic status. We also investigated distributional concerns including how potential PES program design factors related to minimum enrolled area, land tenure, and land characteristics (e.g., slope) might affect eligibility of low-income households. In relation to access, respondents who ranked lower on our constructed socioeconomic scale were less likely to be eligible to enroll in a PES program despite the fact that many are willing to participate. Our research contributes to a key piece of the PES design puzzle by proactively exploring ways to ensure that landowners across the socioeconomic spectrum (particularly the poor) are able to participate. Understanding trade-offs is important for guiding PES program architecture to achieve rural development and poverty alleviation goals in tandem with conservation outcomes.