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

2022 | journal article; research paper. A publication with affiliation to the University of Göttingen.

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​Impacts of conservation incentives in protected areas: The case of Bolsa Floresta, Brazil​
Cisneros, E. ; Börner, J.; Pagiola, S. & Wunder, S.​ (2022) 
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management111 art. 102572​.​ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102572 

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Authors
Cisneros, Elías ; Börner, Jan; Pagiola, Stefano; Wunder, Sven
Abstract
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.
Issue Date
2022
Journal
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 
Project
SFB 990: Ökologische und sozioökonomische Funktionen tropischer Tieflandregenwald-Transformationssysteme (Sumatra, Indonesien) 
SFB 990 | C | C10: Lokalisierte Umwelt- und Landnutzungspolitiken, Umwandlung zu Palmöl und Abholzung 
ISSN
0095-0696
Language
English
Subject(s)
sfb990_journalarticles
Sponsor
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007843 Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 German Research Foundation
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Federal Ministry of Education and Research Bonn Office

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