Socioeconomics impacts of a financial mechanisn, for forest plantation: the payment for environmental services program in Costa Rica north zone

Tesis (M. Sc) -- CATIE, Turrialba (Costa Rica), 2005Esta investigaci?n se fundamenta en la evaluaci?n de los impactos socioecon?micos del programa de pago por servicios ambientales(PSA)para plantaciones forestales en la zona norte de Costa Rica. Ya que a pesar de que el PSA se considera a menudo como un instrumento para el desarrollo sostenible, todav?a no se conocen los impactos de este mecanismo y de las plantaciones incentivadas sobre el desarrollo rural. El estudio concluye que a pesar de que el mecanismo tiene impactos positivos sobre los beneficiarios indirectos e instituciones vinculadas, por tanto, la plantaci?n debe competir con otras actividades agr?colas y ganaderas que generan mayores beneficios econ?micos. Adem?s, otro aspecto que limita el mecanismo son los costos de transacci?n que desincentivan al beneficiario a optar por el mecanismo. This investigation evaluates the socioeconomics impacts of the PES program(payment for environmental services) oriented to forest plantation in Northern Costa Rica. Although the PES program is considered as an iMONtrument of sustainable development, its impacts on rural development are not yet well known. The investigation concludes that even if the PES positive impacts on the direct beneficiaries and related institution in many dimensions, a major restriction for the sustainability of the mechanism lies in the negative socioeconomic impacts for direct beneficiaries, as forest plantation has to compete with other more economically attractive land-use. Other aspect restricting the mechanism in the high transaction costs which prevent some beneficiaries from adopting the mechanism