Measuring the effects of compensation for environmental services interventions on social norms and conservation behavior in Bolivia

Abstract

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) that give landowners a financial incentive to manage their land to provide valuable environmental services may provide an efficient way to conserve forest land and improve the livelihoods of landowners receiving payments. While these programs appear promising, little rigorous evaluation has been conducted to learn about the impacts of PES on the environment or on the people and communities involved. Fundación Natura Bolivia, a conservation NGO, plans to implement a PES program in a new management area, accompanied by a study that aims to identify and understand the impacts of PES. Identifying the impacts of PES and determining why they occur requires baseline information from a program site so that changes can be monitored as the program is implemented. The objective of this research is to identify key environmental, social, economic, and institutional indicators to include in the study and to design a survey instrument to measure these indicators. This report is intended as a guide for Fundación Natura Bolivia as they conduct this and future evaluations of their programs. Key indicators were identified through a literature survey and extensive fieldwork conducted in Bolivia in the summer of 2009. Environmental indicators include agricultural land use, forest use, decision-making, and environmental awareness. Socioeconomic indicators include household consumption, economic access, employment and income sources, and non-income measures of wellbeing. Finally, institutional indicators include community organizations and informal institutions, environmental norms and attitudes, and relationships with outside organizations and other communities. A survey designed to measure these indicators is included with this report, along with recommendations for survey design and implementation.