Marine turtles are a flagship species for conservation because of their ecological role in marine ecosystems as well as the existence value that humans attach to them. Despite the legal ban on turtle…

Programs of payments for ecosystem services are policy instruments that compensate those who provide those services for the costs they incur. One of the most attractive characteristics of this type of…

A bio-socio-economic model was developed to analyze the economic and environmental interactions between the aquaculture activity and artisanal fisheries related to the seed settlement of Mytilus…

This paper investigates how different levels of entrance fees affect donations for a public good, a natural park. To explore this issue, EfD researchers Francisco Alpizar (CATIE-EfD Central America)…

According to advocates, eco-certification can stem environmental damages from tourism in developing countries. Yet we know little about tourism operators’ economic incentives to get certified. To help…

Crafting a set of rules and incentives for the local community in Ostional National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR), one of the few places in the world where sea turtles come ot nest in massive number. At the…

The number of protected areas around the world has significantly increased. However, the effects of this policy on the wellbeing of local households are still under debate. Using pre-treatment…

Protected areas are a cornerstone of forest conservation in developing countries. Yet we know little about their effects on forest cover change or the socioeconomic status of local communities, and…

Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is exceptionally biodiverse. It contains about half of the world's remaining tropical forests, nearly one-fifth of its coastal habitats, and some of its…

We estimate local effects of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) programs on poverty in Costa Rica between 2007 and 2009. Using household surveys and spatial geographic data, we are able to…