Interactions between payments for hydrologic services, landowner decisions, and ecohydrological consequences: synergies and disconnection in the cloud forest zone of central Veracruz, Mexico

Abstract

. 2017. Interactions between payments for hydrologic services, landowner decisions, and ecohydrological consequences: synergies and disconnection in the cloud forest zone of central Veracruz, Mexico. ABSTRACT. Payments for Hydrologic Services (PHS) programs are increasingly used as a policy tool to provide incentives for upstream landowners to adopt land use activities that favor sustainable provision of high-quality water to downstream areas. However, the effectiveness of PHS programs in achieving their objectives and the potential for unintended (often undesirable) consequences remain poorly understood. We integrate results from ecohydrological and socioeconomic research to explore the impact of Mexico's PHS program on the target hydrologic services and people's decisions, behavior, and knowledge regarding forest conservation and water. Using central Veracruz as our case study, we identify areas of both synchrony and disconnection between PHS goals and outcomes. Mature and regenerating cloud forests (targeted by PHS) were found to produce enhanced hydrologic services relative to areas converted to pasture, including reduced peak flows during large rain events and maintenance of dry-season base flows. However, unexpectedly, these hydrologic benefits from cloud forests were not necessarily greater than those from other vegetation types. Consequently, the location of forests in strategic watershed positions (e.g., where deforestation risk or hydrologic recharge are high) may be more critical than forest type in promoting hydrologic functions within watersheds and should be considered when targeting PHS payments. While our results suggest that participation in PHS improved the level of knowledge among watershed inhabitants about forest-water relationships, a mismatch existed between payment amounts and landowner opportunity costs, which may contribute to the modest success in targeting priority areas within watersheds. Combined, these findings underscore the complexity of factors that influence motivations for PHS participation and land use decisions and behavior, and the importance of integrating understanding of both ecohydrological and socioeconomic dynamics into PHS design and implementation. We conclude by identifying opportunities for improving the design of PHS programs and recommending priority areas for future research and monitoring, both in Mexico and globally.

The importance of and need for rapid hydrologic assessments in Latin America

“…Despite remarkable progress in long‐term observations and data acquisition in Latin America (e.g., Asbjornsen et al, ; Asbjornsen et al, ; Bruijnzeel, Mulligan, & Scatena, ; Gotsch et al, ; Moore, Orozco, Aparecido, & Miller, in press; Ogden & Stallard, ), the establishment and augmentation of long‐term data networks remains logistically challenging, particularly at the highest elevations. This challenge results in an ever‐growing scientific gap that hinders our understanding of differences and similarities between hydrological processes in tropical (e.g., tropical Latin America) and temperate (e.g., North America and Europe) regions (e.g., Boulton et al, ).…”

Ecohydrological processes and ecosystem services in the Anthropocene: a review

“…Temporal scales also matter in assessing hydrologic responses to land cover change. A study in the highlands of Veracruz, Mexico, showed that conversion of cloud forest to pasture led to increases in peak flows and decreases in dry-season flow, while reforestation with pines could either increase or decrease water yield depending largely on stand age and the timing of specific management practices (Asbjornsen et al 2017).…”

Spatial analysis of ecosystem service relationships to improve targeting of payments for hydrological services

“…Although, this program aims to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality and supply, such HS are not directly monitored [ 28 , 31 ]. Instead, relying on the largely untested assumption of avoided deforestation serving as a proxy for the enhancement of HS [ 31 – 33 ]. As Wunder et al [ 34 ] notes, for any payment to be conditional it must be possible to verify the existing service provisioning.…”

“…More quantitative evaluations of how PHS programs succeed or fail in achieving their objectives are urgently needed [ 35 ]. Relatively, few programs have been subject to evaluations of their effectiveness and impacts [ 23 , 27 , 32 – 33 ]. Research has tended to focus narrowly on quantifying the impact of PHS in reducing poverty or deforestation rather than ensuring provision of HS to downstream users [ 51 – 52 ].…”

“…Mexico’s PHS program is no exception with operators determining eligible zones using both types of data as targeting and selection ranking criteria, respectively [ 27 , 56 ]. Initially (2003–2006) eligible zones were required to be within hydrological vulnerable areas, in the buffer zones of protected areas, upstream from urban centers, or within priority mountainous areas [ 31 – 33 ]. Preference was given to parcels with more forest cover (>80%) [ 52 ].…”