Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala

Payments for environmental services (PES) are a promising mechanism for conservation. PES could either provide additional funding for protected areas, pay land users to conserve biodiversity outside protected areas, or both. PES require a secure long-term source of financing to work effectively. Obt...

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Autores principales: Pagiola, Stefano, Zhang, Wei, Colom, Ale
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Pennsylvania State University Press 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153358
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author Pagiola, Stefano
Zhang, Wei
Colom, Ale
author_browse Colom, Ale
Pagiola, Stefano
Zhang, Wei
author_facet Pagiola, Stefano
Zhang, Wei
Colom, Ale
author_sort Pagiola, Stefano
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Payments for environmental services (PES) are a promising mechanism for conservation. PES could either provide additional funding for protected areas, pay land users to conserve biodiversity outside protected areas, or both. PES require a secure long-term source of financing to work effectively. Obtaining payments directly for biodiversity conservation is difficult, however. In most cases, water users are the most likely source, either directly or indirectly. Thus the potential for PES to help conserve biodiversity depends, in a large measure, on the degree to which areas of interest for conservation of water services overlap with areas of interest for conservation of biodiversity. This paper examines the extent of such an overlap in the case of highland Guatemala. The results show that this potential varies substantially within the country, with some biodiversity conservation priority areas having very good potential for receiving payments, and others little or none. Overall, about a quarter of all biodiversity conservation priority areas have potential for receiving payments. Thus PES are far from being a silver bullet for biodiversity conservation, but they can make a meaningful contribution to this objective.
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spelling CGSpace1533582025-12-08T10:29:22Z Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala Pagiola, Stefano Zhang, Wei Colom, Ale biodiversity resource conservation payments for ecosystem services watersheds Payments for environmental services (PES) are a promising mechanism for conservation. PES could either provide additional funding for protected areas, pay land users to conserve biodiversity outside protected areas, or both. PES require a secure long-term source of financing to work effectively. Obtaining payments directly for biodiversity conservation is difficult, however. In most cases, water users are the most likely source, either directly or indirectly. Thus the potential for PES to help conserve biodiversity depends, in a large measure, on the degree to which areas of interest for conservation of water services overlap with areas of interest for conservation of biodiversity. This paper examines the extent of such an overlap in the case of highland Guatemala. The results show that this potential varies substantially within the country, with some biodiversity conservation priority areas having very good potential for receiving payments, and others little or none. Overall, about a quarter of all biodiversity conservation priority areas have potential for receiving payments. Thus PES are far from being a silver bullet for biodiversity conservation, but they can make a meaningful contribution to this objective. 2010-01 2024-10-01T13:56:00Z 2024-10-01T13:56:00Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153358 en Limited Access Pennsylvania State University Press Pagiola, Stefano; Zhang, Wei; Colom, Ale. 2010. Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala. Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research 2(1): 7-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/19390450903350812
spellingShingle biodiversity
resource conservation
payments for ecosystem services
watersheds
Pagiola, Stefano
Zhang, Wei
Colom, Ale
Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title_full Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title_fullStr Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title_full_unstemmed Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title_short Can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation? A spatial analysis of highland Guatemala
title_sort can payments for watershed services help finance biodiversity conservation a spatial analysis of highland guatemala
topic biodiversity
resource conservation
payments for ecosystem services
watersheds
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/153358
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