Payment for Environmental Services in the Amazon Forest: How Can Conservation and Development Be Reconciled?

Abstract

Two payment for environmental services programs in the Amazon, namely, Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project in Bolivia and Bolsa Floresta Program in Brazil, have been pioneering initiatives to demonstrate the ability to encourage forest conservation through market mechanisms involving direct payments for avoiding deforestation. This article argues that (a) to be effective in the long-run, programs have to consider the needs and priorities of forest dwellers, which are indeed beyond market-based incentives; (b) a win-win discourse combining forest conservation and poverty alleviation through provision of PES may hide vested interests of developed countries’ institutions and developing countries’ elites. Proving the workability of these types of activities and their quantification for emissions credit will be critical for the launching of reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in the context of a future climate agreement.