Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

The creation of the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was not only a key moment to define concepts such as ecosystem services (ES) and payment for ecosystem services (PES), but also to highlight the existing link between human well-being and ecosystems. As the world's population increased, so did the demand for ES. However, by 1990, 24% of the world's land area had been converted to agricultural land, reducing ES by two-thirds. In response, PES was introduced to provide monetary incentives to landowners to initiate or increase the provision of ES. Nevertheless, this is not as straightforward since people's motivation to participate in PES programs can be driven by a multitude of extrinsic (e.g. money) and intrinsic (e.g. social approval, moral commitment to nature conservation) motivations. Furthermore, motivation for continued conservation efforts after PES programs end (post-PES) may be affected by the strengthening (crowding in) or weakening (crowding out) of intrinsic motivations. A better understanding of these factors contributes to the development of insights into human behavior and motivations about whether or not forest conservation efforts persist post-PES.

This study targets two aspects of PES: the reasons why PES contracts get terminated prior to their expiration date; and the effect of payment suspensions (temporary or permanent) on the long-term effects of PES. The firstPS issue is addressed through a mixed-method approach that combines a systematic and narrative literature review. In total, the final selection of literature consisted of 29 articles. From these, fourteen “evidence based” and “suggested” reasons that could lead to early PES contract termination were identified. Based on these fourteen reasons, a framework was created consisting of four different PES contract termination dimensions (social, financial, contractual, landscape) and seven associated factors (trust, communication, monitoring & enforcement, contract complexity & terms, program funding, payments to providers, ecology and land use). In addition, evidence of motivation crowding and changes in behavior were found. The latter was led by the presence of influences on the aforementioned seven factors.

For the second PES aspect, a systematic review was conducted of seven selected articles. These articles consisted of case studies on post-PES outcomes. For the included asset-building PES programs, it was found that the long-term effectiveness was secured as conservation efforts continued and applied land-use practices remained in place. However, this systematic review needs to be expanded for this finding to be considered applicable in general, as was suggested by earlier studies. In addition, it was found that motivation crowding does play a role in the long-term effectiveness of PES.

Based on these findings, this study suggests evidence against the premise "no pay, no care" (Fisher 2012). This because this premise is a simplistic representation of all factors that contribute to the continuation of conservation efforts after payments are suspended.