Payments for ecosystem services and conditional cash transfers in a policy mix: Microlevel interactions in Selva Lacandona, Mexico

Abstract

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs have been increasingly studied with a policy mix perspective. So far, the focus has been on PES' interplay with other conservation instruments and resulting environmental outcomes at meso-and macrolevels. Though PES often operate among "poor" forest-dwelling communities in the Global South, our knowledge on PES' interactions with poverty alleviation policies is scarce, especially at the microlevel. This article examines PES' interactions-in terms of joint coverage, management, and spending of revenues, and socioeconomic effects of participation-with a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program in a case study of six communities in Selva Lacandona, Chiapas, Mexico. The article builds a dual framework combining policy mix analysis with an actor-oriented approach focused on participants' microagency, and is based on in-depth, qualitative research. Results reveal widespread joint PES and CCT coverage, and patterns of specialization between different household members regarding the management and spending of program revenues. Results also show positive, multilevel policy interactions as participants combine resources to pursue individual and collective socioeconomic strategies. The article highlights the creative ways in which local stakeholders integrate individual policies within their broader livelihoods, and how coordination failures among policy-implementing institutions and deficient public services limit participants' ability to achieve sustained livelihood improvements. The article also highlights how a focus on microlevel policy interactions complements meso-and macrolevel analyses for a better understanding of PES' role in a policy mix and concludes by providing some recommendations for building implementation synergies and improving program design. K E Y W O R D S Chiapas, conditional cash transfers (CCT), Lacandon rainforest, Mexico, payments for ecosystem services (PES), policy interactions, policymix, poverty alleviation

Incentivizing the production of ecosystem services on working lands: The opportunities and challenges of funding “nature’s contributions to people” in the U.S. Northeast

“…Programmatic design and implementation should consider these dynamics and incorporate efforts in order to offset risk as directly as possible. Creative policy solutions like basic income or cash transfer schemes (Izquierdo-Tort 2020), risk sharing strategies (McDonald and McCormack 2022), or programs that provide health care (Becot et al 2020) and childcare (Inwood and Stengel 2020) can serve to support working lands livelihoods amidst a confluence of intersecting challenges.…”

Household’s Allocation of Payment for Ecosystem Services in “La Antigua” Watershed, Veracruz, México

“…It may be that the households receiving CCT use PES as a complement and that the households not receiving other cash transfers use PES as a substitute. Izquierdo-Tort (2020) has pointed out that PES and cash transfers are allocated differently but complement each other. PES payments in this study area are equivalent to 8% of the household’s total income, and other CCTs represent 11% of the total income.…”

What happens when the money runs out? Forest outcomes and equity concerns following Ecuador’s suspension of conservation payments

“…Moreover, though in our study area and period it was drainage projects that constituted a new deforestation pressure, PES projects are usually carried out alongside other policy interventions. Policy mix interactions are an important but understudied field of research that can provide crucial insights on how environmental protection is affected when PES interact with other policies on the ground ( Ezzine-De-Blas et al, 2016 , Izquierdo-Tort, 2020 , Lambin et al, 2014 , Robalino et al, 2015 ). Further, the growth in family sizes is re-shaping land needs at our site and potentially adding further pressure to deforest.…”