Evaluating interactions of forest conservation policies on avoided deforestation.
Abstract
We estimate the effects on deforestation that have resulted from policy interactions
between parks and payments and between park buffers and payments in Costa Rica between
2000 and 2005. We show that the characteristics of the areas where protected and unprotected
lands are located differ significantly. Additionally, we find that land characteristics
of each of the policies and of the places where they interact also differ significantly.
To adequately estimate the effects of the policies and their interactions, we use
matching methods. Matching is implemented not only to define adequate control groups,
as in previous research, but also to define those groups of locations under the influence
of policies that are comparable to each other. We find that it is more effective to
locate parks and payments away from each other, rather than in the same location or
near each other. The high levels of enforcement inside both parks and lands with payments,
and the presence of conservation spillovers that reduce deforestation near parks,
significantly reduce the potential impact of combining these two policies.
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Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12708Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1371/journal.pone.0124910Publication Info
Robalino, Juan; Sandoval, Catalina; Barton, David N; Chacon, Adriana; & Pfaff, Alexander (2015). Evaluating interactions of forest conservation policies on avoided deforestation.
PLoS One, 10(4). pp. e0124910. 10.1371/journal.pone.0124910. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/12708.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Alexander Pfaff
Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
Alex Pfaff is a Professor of Public Policy, Economics and Environment at Duke University.
He studies how economic development affects and is affected by natural resources and
the environment. His focus is on the impacts of conservation policies (such as protected
areas, ecoservices payments, and certifications) and development policies (such as
roads and rights). Those impacts are functions of choices by individuals and communities
that affect land use, water quantity and quality, human exposure

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