HOW PAYMENTS FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES IMPACT SOCIAL EQUITY

Abstract

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes have become an attractive and widely used instrument for environmental conservation. In my PhD, I identify the mechanisms (social, spatial, institutional) that can negatively influence equity outcomes and propose ways to overcome them. Each of my PhD chapters broadly discusses either in part of fully, four key areas related to equity namely: 1. how participants are engaged, 2. information dissemination, 3. social impacts and 4. potential trade-offs. My first chapter investigates the relationship between scheme characteristics and equity outcomes, found within real-life case studies. In my second chapter, using a well-established PES scheme in Sumberjaya, Indonesia, I explore the relationship between farmer characteristics and their perceived auction fairness/satisfaction and impacts on the community social dynamics. My third and fourth chapters use a longstanding PES scheme in Cidanau, Indonesia, as a case study. In this third chapter I explore the differences in social capital between participants and non-participants. While In my fourth chapter, I investigate the implications of spatially targeting PES participants based on equity, understanding, perceptions, and compliance. The results from this thesis can help academics, PES proponents and organizers understand the complex relationships between PES and equity.