Global ecosystem services are clearly threatened by deforestation associated with human occupation and economic development of the Brazilian Amazon. However, the prognosis for the socioeconomic wellbeing of inhabitants remains unclear. In an empirical regularity that has been termed the boom–bust pattern or the resource curse, the exploitation of natural resources is associated with short-run gains in welfare that dissipate over time.

Agricultural expansion into tropical forests is believed to bring local economic benefits at the expense of global environmental costs. The resulting tension is reflected in Brazilian government policy. The national agrarian reform program has settled farm families in the Amazon region since the 1970s, with the expectation that they will clear forests in order to farm the land. On the other hand, recent Brazilian policy initiatives seek to reduce deforestation to mitigate climate change.

A number of studies show that payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs contribute to reducing deforestation, but few have measured the impact on ecosystem service provision or compared economic benefits and costs of these programs. We integrate impact evaluation and ecosystem service measurement to examine the effects of PES programs in Veracruz, Mexico. We use quasi-experimental methods to measure the effect of enrolling in PES on forest cover. We link these changes in forest cover to field-calibrated measures of water regulation and carbon storage.

The establishment of commercial forest plantations requires the selection of sites where reasonable profitability can be attained. A financial analysis was made for the identification of the most suitable areas for the establishment of new Pinus patula plantations in the central region of Antioquia, Colombia. The analysis was performed assuming basic silvicultural treatments at the establishment but no management during the entire rotation period.