Compensation for Hydrological Services in Bolivia: the Comarapa Municipal Water Fund

Bolivia’s Comarapa watershed faces constant pressure from soil erosion, increased sedimentation, contamination, and loss of fertility and biodiversity. In February 2008 local authorities approved the creation of a Water Fund, with the objective of sustaining and reviving the environmental services of the watershed through conservation of native forest and restoration of degraded ecosystems. The Caballero Public Services Cooperative Ltd., a pre-existing entity with legitimacy and administrative capacity, administers the Fund. Resources are derived from the annual contribution of the..