Impacto socioeconómico del pago por servicios ambientales y la certificación forestal voluntaria en la sostenibilidad del manejo forestal en Costa Rica

Sustainable forest management has been considered as an ecological, economic and socially sustainable alternative to reduce deforestation. Nevertheless, for the costs and restrictions associated, it requires of mechanisms to increase competitiveness. In Costa Rica, Payment of Environmental Services (PES) seeks to internalise the environmental benefits, and Voluntary Forest Certification (VFC) promotes SFM practices, through market-based rewards. This study evaluated the socio-economic impact of the PES and VFC as mechanisms to promote the sustainability of the forest management in Costa Rica. A standard of principles, criteria and indica-tors (PC&I) was formulated and applied on forest management units (FMU) that received PES, or were certified, or both. The results showed that although the importance of these mechanisms for better forest management is recognized, the decision of stakeholders to adopt or continue SFM depends on economic sustainability, which did not comply with the generated expectations. That was associated to structural situations as the economic activity of beneficiaries and their access to institutional support. In order to increase the socio-economic contribution of PES or VFC, corresponding institutions must evaluate the local socio-economic heterogeneities and identify target groups. (Résumé d'auteur