Payment for Ecosystem Services from Forests

Jennifer Alix-Garcia () and Hendrik Wolff ()
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Jennifer Alix-Garcia: Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
Hendrik Wolff: Department of Economics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195

Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2014, vol. 6, issue 1, 361-380

Abstract: Every year from 2000 to 2010, our planet lost native forests roughly the size of Costa Rica (FAO 2010). This rapid deforestation has dramatically changed the chemical composition of the world’s atmosphere, the level of biodiversity, and the presence of vegetation key to maintaining watershed function and preventing landslides. There has been a boom in the design of local and international policy instruments to prevent further deforestation and to encourage forest growth. This article reviews the theory and evidence surrounding forest-related payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes intended to slow and reverse deforestation. We cover the most recent work touching on a range of issues related to PES programs, including research on targeting, contract design, environmental effectiveness, challenges to program implementation, spillovers, and distributional considerations of conditional cash transfers. We also highlight areas of potential future research.

Keywords: environmental policy; deforestation; afforestation; reforestation; climate change; conditional cash transfers; PES (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q23 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (37)

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