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Payments for environmental services (PES) have been widely studied as one possible way to counter deforestation and support livelihoods. Given the high rates of deforestation in the Amazon region, it is important to study under which conditions PES have positive environmental and social outcomes. We contribute to this debate through a systematic review based on the Realist Evaluation framework. First, we review case studies to identify configurations of social-ecological factors (context), PES design and implementation (resource mechanisms), people's responses (reasoning mechanisms), and the results in terms of forest conservation and people's livelihoods (outcomes). Second, we develop a middle-range theory of how, for whom, and under what conditions PES in the Amazon achieve these results. After screening 972 articles in the SCOPUS, Scielo, and WorldCat databases, we reviewed 13 articles in-depth that contained all the elements (context-mechanism-outcomes) needed to identify these configurations. Our results show that PES in the Amazon generate positive environmental and social outcomes when they: (a) combine cash and in-kind incentives, (b) raise environmental awareness through capacity building, (c) engage socially and ethnically diverse stakeholders through equitable and inclusive approaches, (d) apply transparent spatial targeting, (e) guarantee strong conditionality through robust monitoring of compliance, and (f) guarantee stable delivery of payments.

How can we design conservation and development projects that produce lasting changes? How can we increase their effectiveness and legitimacy? The classical economic incentives of environmental policies (certification, sustainable forest management, payments for environmental services, green loans, etc.) are effective in the short term, but their environmental performance is not necessarily guaranteed in the long term. However, when the intrinsic motivations of beneficiaries are activated, these beneficiaries take greater ownership of the objectives of actions: they demonstrate more lasting behavioural change. Recent research combining behavioural economics and social psychology, conducted for such projects, is opening a rich and complementary avenue to mobilise this latent human potential. Considering intrinsic motivations implies recognising the importance of the psychological dimension of any action. Research and development decision-makers and donors can harness this potential and ensure their calls for projects incorporate methods to identify and activate these motivations.

Comment concevoir des projets de conservation et développement qui permettent des changements durables ? Comment en augmenter l'efficacité et la légitimité ? Les incitations économiques classiques des politiques environnementales (certification, gestion durable des forêts, paiements pour services environnementaux, crédits verts, etc.) sont efficaces à court terme mais leur performance environnementale n'est pas forcément assurée à long terme. En revanche, lorsque les motivations intrinsèques des bénéficiaires sont activées, ceux-ci s'approprient mieux les objectifs des interventions : ils font preuve d'un changement de comportement plus durable. De récentes recherches croisant l'économie du comportement et la psychologie sociale, menées dans le cadre de ce type de projets, ouvrent une voie riche et complémentaire pour mobiliser ce potentiel humain latent. Considérer les motivations intrinsèques, c'est prendre conscience de l'importance de la dimension psychologique de toute action. Les décideurs et les bailleurs du développement et de la recherche peuvent s'en saisir et intégrer dans leurs appels à projets des méthodes pour les identifier et les activer.

We estimate the early effects of the pilot project to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) in the Brazilian Amazon. This project offers a mix of interventions, including conditional payments, to reduce deforestation by smallholders who depend on swidden agriculture and extensive cattle ranching. We collected original data from 181 individual farmers. We use difference-in-difference (DID) and DID-matching approaches and find evidence that supports our identification strategy. We estimate that an average of 4 ha of forest were saved on each participating farm in 2014, and that this conservation came at the expense of pastures rather than croplands. This amounts to a decrease in the deforestation rate of about 50%. We find no evidence of within-community spillovers.

Bibliografia., Varios instrumentos económicos diseñados con la finalidad de terminar la deforestación tropical, han sido puestos en práctica en países en desarrollo en estas últimas décadas. Dentro de esos instrumentos, los Pagos por Servicios Ambientales (PSA, también llamados Pagos por Servicios Ecosistémicos) han sido teorizados como mecanismos basados en contratos, que otorgan incentivos para conservar los bosques de manera costo-efectiva. Las pruebas del desempeño de los PSA son recientes y escasas, principalmente en relación su efectividad ambiental pero también en su capacidad de causar un cambio de comportamiento por parte de los usuarios de bosques y de mejorar la acción colectiva entre las agencias gubernamentales y las instituciones comunitarias, para lograr el mejoramiento de la conservación de los bosques a largo plazo. Esta tesis doctoral pretende evaluar cómo se ponen en práctica los PSA en bosques con tenencia colectiva en el estado de Chiapas, México. En particular, esta tesis investiga: i) si los PSA generan conservación adicional de los bosques durante el tiempo del contrato; ii) qué influencia tienen los prestadores de servicios técnicos sobre la puesta en práctica de los PSA; iii) cuáles son las preferencias de los miembros de comunidades participantes sobre las características de los contratos de PSA y iv) cómo los miembros de comunidad participantes pueden transformar los requerimientos de los PSA en instituciones de manejo forestal socialmente aceptadas y colectivamente cumplidas. La recopilacion de datos esta basada en metodologias cualitativas y cuantitativas, y este tesis esta enfocada en un case de studio que comprende varias escalas de analisis, estatal, reginal y al nivel de comunidad. Los resultados de la presente tesis contribuyen a debates actuales sobre el desempeño ambiental y las consecuencias sociales e institucionales de los PSA. Los resultados sugieren que los PSA pueden reducir significativamente la deforestación durante la vigencia de un co, A range of economic instruments aiming at stopping tropical deforestation has been implemented in developing countries over the past few decades. Among these, Payments for Environmental Services (PES, also called Payments for Ecosystem Services) have been theorized as contract-based mechanisms that provide incentives to better conserve forests in a cost-effective way. However, evidence about their performance is still recent and scarce, notably their environmental effectiveness but also their ability to induce forest managers' behavioral change and foster collective action between governmental agencies and community institutions for achieving long-term forest conservation. This dissertation aims at evaluating the implementation of PES in collectively-owned forests in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. Specifically, it investigates i) if PES are generating additional forest conservation outcomes during contract implementation; ii) the influence of technical service providers over PES implementation; iii) what are the preferences of community members regarding PES contract characteristics; and iv) the extent to which community members are able to translate PES requirements into socially embedded and collectively enforced forest management institutions. Data collection relies on both qualitative and quantitative methods, adopting a case-study approach that comprises several analytical scales: state, regional and community levels. Overall, the findings of this dissertation contribute to current debates on the environmental performance and social and institutional repercussions of PES. They suggest that PES can significantly reduce deforestation during contract implementation, but complementary policy-mixes are needed to institutionalize forest management rules both into community institutions and between community members, governmental agencies and other stakeholders. Strategies targeting community leaders to adapt PES contracts to social norms and institutional characterist

REDD+ is usually presented as an incentive-based mechanism that can provide payments to compensate for the costs induced by conservation restrictions. Yet in Madagascar REDD+ is implemented through a command-and-control approach with almost no or insufficient compensation. This paper challenges the financial feasibility of an individual cash or in-kind compensation scheme as part of a REDD+ project and assesses the cost of implementing a hypothetical individual compensation scheme for local populations living on the boundary of an ongoing REDD+ pilot project in southeastern Madagascar. In order to estimate a plausible level of compensation, we measured households' perceived economic losses arising from the project. We carried out this economic evaluation based on households' declarative statements about their agricultural production (before and after project implementation) and their perceptions of the causes of such changes. We then estimated the start-up and running costs of implementing conditional transfers to compensate for reported losses using first-hand project cost data from different conservation projects in Madagascar, including the one analysed in this paper. Comparing our estimated total cost to the current budget of the REDD+ project, we concluded that compensating households would cost seven times more than the budget initially devoted to field activities during the first phase of the project. Yet we discuss that individual compensation may increase the long-term environmental and social additionality (through greater legitimacy) of the REDD+ project, as it may play a role of safety nets and help farmers, especially the most vulnerable ones, to implement new agricultural techniques to adapt to land use restrictions.

El propósito de la Red Políticas Públicas y Desarrollo Rural en América Latina, Red PP-AL es estudiar en América Latina y el Caribe (ALC), las evoluciones y transformaciones en los procesos de formulación, elaboración, implementación y evaluación de políticas públicas de desarrollo rural en el sentido amplio del término (incluyendo políticas agrícolas, ambientales, sociales, de innovación, etc.). La Red ha realizado estudios comparados en la región, sobre políticas públicas de ganadería, agricultura familiar, desarrollo rural territorial, circuitos cortos, agroecología, promoción de servicios ambientales y respuesta al cambio climático . Los programas e instrumentos de reducción de pobreza rural no han sido el principal objeto del estudio comparativo de políticas de la Red PP-AL al nivel regional, sino más bien a la escala de ciertos países como Brasil. Pero algunos resultados de los análisis de políticas sectoriales o territoriales a nivel latino-americano pueden contribuir a las reflexiones al respecto. Los trabajos de la Red PP-AL han considerado también en el análisis de las políticas públicas, el foco y los efectos para la reducción de las diversas formas de desigualdad (económica, social, política, territorial, de acceso a derechos y ciudadanía, etc.). Muchas veces, son esas desigualdades y situaciones de exclusión que llevan a la permanencia de la precariedad, de la pobreza y a la marginalización. Por lo tanto, para atacar las raíces de la pobreza, es esencial que las políticas públicas, como las iniciativas del sector privado, asociativo y de las agencias de cooperación internacional integren la dimensión de la reducción de las desigualdades. Políticas para la reducción de la pobreza rural en ALC En América Latina y el Caribe, las políticas públicas de reducción de la pobreza rural han utilizado cuatro tipos principales de instrumentos: - Programas sociales de transferencia de renta, más o menos condicionada, de carácter universal, urbano y rural; - Política

Tropical forests continue to be plagued by the dual sustainability challenges of deforestation and rural poverty. We seek to understand why many of the farmers living in the Brazilian Amazon, home to the world's largest tropical agricultural-forest frontier, persist in agricultural activities associated with low incomes and high environmental damage. To answer this question, we assess the factors that shape the development and distribution of agricultural activities and farmer well-being in these frontiers. Our study utilizes a uniquely comprehensive social-ecological dataset from two regions in the eastern Brazilian Amazon and employs a novel conceptual framework that highlights the interdependencies between household attributes, agricultural activities, and well-being. We find that livestock production, which yields the lowest per hectare incomes, remains the most prevalent land use in remote areas, but many examples of high income fruit, horticulture, and staple crop production exist on small properties, particularly in peri-urban areas. The transition to more profitable land uses is limited by lagging supply chain infrastructure, social preferences, and the fact that income associated with land use activities is not a primary source of perceived life quality. Instead subjective well-being is more heavily influenced by the nonmonetary attributes of a rural lifestyle (safety, tranquility, community relations, etc.). We conclude that transitions away from low-income land uses in agricultural-forest frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon need not abandon a land-focused vision of development, but will require policies and programs that identify and discriminate households based on a broader set of household assets, cultural attributes, and aspirations than are traditionally applied. At a broader scale, access to distant markets for high value crops must be improved via investments in processing, storage, and marketing infrastructure.