Compensation for ecosystem services: an evaluation of efforts to achieve conservation and development in Ecuadorian páramo grasslands

Abstract

SUMMARYEcosystem services programmes have been advocated for their potential to join conservation and poverty alleviation efforts, integrate working landscapes, and provide a flow of ecosystem services upon which populations rely. Ecuadorian páramo grasslands have rapidly become the focus of compensation for ecosystem services (CES) programmes intended to conserve hydrologic services, carbon sequestration and biodiversity. This paper reviews CES programmes in Ecuadorian páramos using a combination of semi-structured interviews with project personnel, policy makers and community leaders involved in CES programme development, document analysis, and archival research. Findings indicate that, in some cases, CES schemes can support local development, with potential to contribute to poverty alleviation; however, measures of programme effects on poverty were lacking. The programmes fell across the spectrum of activity-reducing to activity-enhancing, with some functioning as protected areas and others integrating working landscapes; however, designation of land as protected did not necessarily imply more restrictive use. Finally, these cases all reflect scenarios in which limited information is available linking land use with ecosystem services production and underscore the idea that adequate understanding of ecosystem production functions continues to be a barrier to development of effective programmes, particularly where the provision of multiple ecosystem services is anticipated.

Payments for ecosystem services in the tropics: a closer look at effectiveness and equity

“…We excluded articles developing a conceptual framework, argument or model related to PES theory, practice or the targeting of payments [4,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]; focusing on analytical issues unrelated to effectiveness and equity, such as motivations to participate in PES [31][32][33]; and those that did not include a purposive analysis of case studies, such as summary articles in special issues, the above mentioned PES reviews, and articles with anecdotal evidence on PES implementation to illustrate a related argument [34][35][36][37].…”

Managing water services in tropical regions: From land cover proxies to hydrologic fluxes

“…For example, in mountainous areas, lack of roads and other infrastructure may preclude access to suitable sampling sites or certain types of data collection (e.g., distance from laboratory facilities limits analysis of water chemistry; Gunston 1998). Second, when and where hydrologic monitoring is conducted, it is not usually linked explicitly to land-use or land-cover modification (Farley et al 2011). Third, the opportunity to measure water flows often arises simultaneously with the opportunity for intervention.…”

Land‐Use and Land‐Cover Change in the Páramo of South‐Central Ecuador, 1979–2014

“…It has been argued that land-use policies, deforestation, urbanization, and the movement of people are the root causes of degradation in this ecoregion [40]. The conservation concerns arising from this, and the compromised ability of the páramo to provide ecosystem benefits [28,[40][41][42] at local to regional scales, has led the Ecuador Ministry of Environment to establish the SocioPáramo Program, as part of the Socio Bosque Program [43] as a way of trying to conserve the remaining forests in the páramo [44].…”