Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil

Conditional incentives are a promising complementary approach to conserve tropical forests, for example, in multiple-use protected areas. In this paper we analyze the environmental impacts of Bolsa Floresta, a forest conservation program that combines direct conditional payments with livelihood-focu...

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Main Authors: Cisneros, E., Borner, J., Pagiola, S., Wunder, Sven
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/116162
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author Cisneros, E.
Borner, J.
Pagiola, S.
Wunder, Sven
author_browse Borner, J.
Cisneros, E.
Pagiola, S.
Wunder, Sven
author_facet Cisneros, E.
Borner, J.
Pagiola, S.
Wunder, Sven
author_sort Cisneros, E.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Conditional incentives are a promising complementary approach to conserve tropical forests, for example, in multiple-use protected areas. In this paper we analyze the environmental impacts of Bolsa Floresta, a forest conservation program that combines direct conditional payments with livelihood-focused investments in 15 multiple-use reserves in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. We use grid-based data, nearest-neighbor matching, and panel data econometrics to compare three forest-related program outcomes – deforestation, degradation, and fires – of participating and non-participating reserve areas. Forest threats were low before and after treatment, because the program prioritized low-pressure sites. Thus, we find significant but small additional conservation effects from the implementation of the program. Notwithstanding, treatment effects are relatively larger in areas with higher deforestation pressure and higher potential agricultural income. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence showing that adverse spatial targeting of conservation incentives, i.e. disproportionally enrolling low–pressure sites, is a prime cause for the low additionality found in rigorous impact evaluations of many existing initiatives.
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spelling CGSpace1161622025-10-26T13:02:25Z Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil Cisneros, E. Borner, J. Pagiola, S. Wunder, Sven ecosystem services protected areas deforestation Conditional incentives are a promising complementary approach to conserve tropical forests, for example, in multiple-use protected areas. In this paper we analyze the environmental impacts of Bolsa Floresta, a forest conservation program that combines direct conditional payments with livelihood-focused investments in 15 multiple-use reserves in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. We use grid-based data, nearest-neighbor matching, and panel data econometrics to compare three forest-related program outcomes – deforestation, degradation, and fires – of participating and non-participating reserve areas. Forest threats were low before and after treatment, because the program prioritized low-pressure sites. Thus, we find significant but small additional conservation effects from the implementation of the program. Notwithstanding, treatment effects are relatively larger in areas with higher deforestation pressure and higher potential agricultural income. Our findings add to the growing body of evidence showing that adverse spatial targeting of conservation incentives, i.e. disproportionally enrolling low–pressure sites, is a prime cause for the low additionality found in rigorous impact evaluations of many existing initiatives. 2022-01 2021-11-19T04:12:09Z 2021-11-19T04:12:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/116162 en Open Access Elsevier Cisneros, E., Börner, J., Pagiola, S. and Wunder, S. 2021. Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management: 102572. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102572
spellingShingle ecosystem services
protected areas
deforestation
Cisneros, E.
Borner, J.
Pagiola, S.
Wunder, Sven
Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title_full Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title_fullStr Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title_short Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil
title_sort impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas the case of bolsa floresta brazil
topic ecosystem services
protected areas
deforestation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/116162
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