Browsing by Author "Castillo, Selene"

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    Improving environmental and social targeting through adaptive management in Mexico's payments for hydrological services program.
    (Conserv Biol, 2014-10) Sims, Katharine RE; Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M; Shapiro-Garza, Elizabeth; Fine, Leah R; Radeloff, Volker C; Aronson, Glen; Castillo, Selene; Ramirez-Reyes, Carlos; Yañez-Pagans, Patricia
    Natural resource managers are often expected to achieve both environmental protection and economic development even when there are fundamental trade-offs between these goals. Adaptive management provides a theoretical structure for program administrators to balance social priorities in the presence of trade-offs and to improve conservation targeting. We used the case of Mexico's federal Payments for Hydrological Services program (PSAH) to illustrate the importance of adaptive management for improving program targeting. We documented adaptive elements of PSAH and corresponding changes in program eligibility and selection criteria. To evaluate whether these changes resulted in enrollment of lands of high environmental and social priority, we compared the environmental and social characteristics of the areas enrolled in the program with the characteristics of all forested areas in Mexico, all areas eligible for the program, and all areas submitted for application to the program. The program successfully enrolled areas of both high ecological and social priority, and over time, adaptive changes in the program's criteria for eligibility and selection led to increased enrollment of land scoring high on both dimensions. Three factors facilitated adaptive management in Mexico and are likely to be generally important for conservation managers: a supportive political environment, including financial backing and encouragement to experiment from the federal government; availability of relatively good social and environmental data; and active participation in the review process by stakeholders and outside evaluators.
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    Lessons Learned from Mexico's PES Program for National-Level REDD+ Strategies
    (2012-04-27) Castillo, Selene
    Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) strategies are currently being created in developing countries across the world as a means of mitigating climate change. REDD+ programs often include Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs, which provide financial incentives for landowners to conserve, as part of larger policy strategies to slow deforestation. PES programs have a relatively long history of implementation in countries around the world. Despite the value of considering experiences from established PES programs, existing literature fails to apply detailed knowledge on PES program design to a REDD+ framework. This study is based on a detailed policy analysis of Mexico’s national PES program and interviews conducted with individuals involved in program design, implementation, operation and evaluation. Results demonstrate the importance of clearly delineated program objectives, coordination of cooperation across scales, prioritization of environmental criteria in selecting participants and differentiated payment schemes adapted to the context of each region. By taking lessons learned from this well-established PES programs, these unprecedented REDD+ strategies can be more effectively designed in order to facilitate significant emissions reductions and socioeconomic development.