Stakeholder Perceptions of Mexico’s Payment for Environmental Services Program: A Comparative Study of Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts in Oaxaca and Yucatán
Abstract
This study evaluates the impacts of Mexico’s national Payment for Environmental Services-
Hydrological program (PSA-H), which has been touted as one of the most successful
payment for ecosystem services (PES) programs worldwide. Survey and interview data
was collected in the Mexican states of Oaxaca and Yucatán in order to assess stakeholder
perceptions of PSA-H on the ground. These stakeholders consist of professionals who
have worked closely in the design or implementation of PSA-H, and both program beneficiary
and non-beneficiary private property owners and community members. We analyzed this
data by comparing stakeholder perceptions to PSA-H design assumptions for the following
themes: forest valuation, the potential for ecosystem service market development,
and poverty alleviation. Discrepancies that arise through this comparison help to
illuminate how PSA-H design and implementation could be improved so as to generate
greater and more sustainable socioeconomic and environmental impacts. Furthermore,
contrasts drawn between the states of Oaxaca and Yucatán demonstrate different obstacles
to successful implementation that the national program may encounter depending on
underlying social, economic, or environmental conditions. Not only are these findings
useful for informing PSA-H design as the program continues to evolve, but they are
also applicable to the design and implementation of PES programs worldwide.
Type
Master's projectSubject
community capacity buildingpayments for ecosystem services
forest valuation
hydrological service markets
Mexico
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5335Citation
Rice, Jane; & Baker, Rachel (2012). Stakeholder Perceptions of Mexico’s Payment for Environmental Services Program: A
Comparative Study of Socioeconomic and Environmental Impacts in Oaxaca and Yucatán.
Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/5335.Collections
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