Social equity matters in payments for ecosystem services

Pascual, Unai, Jacob, Phelps, Garmendia, Eneko, Brown, Kate, Corbera, Esteve, Martin, Adrian ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2916-7712, Gomez-Baggethun, Eric and Muradian, Roldan (2014) Social equity matters in payments for ecosystem services. Bioscience, 64 (11). pp. 1027-1036. ISSN 1525-3244

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Abstract

Although conservation efforts have sometimes succeeded in meeting environmental goals at the expense of equity considerations, the changing context of conservation and a growing body of evidence increasingly suggest that equity considerations should be integrated into conservation planning and implementation. However, this approach is often perceived to be at odds with the prevailing focus on economic efficiency that characterizes many payment for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. Drawing from examples across the literature, we show how the equity impacts of PES can create positive and negative feedbacks that influence ecological outcomes. We caution against equity-blind PES, which overlooks these relationships as a result of a primary and narrow focus on economic efficiency. We call for further analysis and better engagement between the social and ecological science communities to understand the relationships and trade-offs among efficiency, equity, and ecological outcomes.

Item Type: Article
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Global Environmental Justice
University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 26 Nov 2014 16:26
Last Modified: 13 Jun 2023 08:29
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/51234
DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biu146

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