Conservar, ¿cómo y para quién? Pago por servicios ambientales en Chiapas, México
Keywords:
gender, género, tzotziles, Conservación, Conservation, política ambiental, environmental policy, forest governance, Tzotzils, gobernanza forestalAbstract
Abstract. The Payment for Environmental Services (psa) of CONAFOR financially supports forest owners in order to promote environmental conservation. This paper analyzes the performance of psa in Ejido Tierra Nueva, Chiapas. The paper has two purposes: to describe the conditions that favored the conservation of 161 hectares financially supported by psa; to examine the participation of three stakeholders (ejidatarios, pobladores and women) in the program. Data were obtained through workshops, interviews, transects, a survey and satellite image analysis. The paper reports an increase in forest lands, but it also argues that economic benefits were concentrated in the hands of ejidatarios. Pobladores and women lost access to vital resources (foods, firewood, water) and had no decision making power in community arrangements. Results call for the redesign of PSA in order to increase its effectiveness as a tool for environmental conservation and support for excluded social groups.
