Costa Rica is considering expanding their marine protected areas (MPAs) to conserve marine resources. Due to the importance of households’ responses to an MPA in defining the MPA’s ecological and economic outcomes, this paper uses an economic decision framework to interpret data from near-MPA household surveys to inform this policy discussion. The model and data suggest that the impact of expanding MPAs relies on levels of enforcement and on-shore wages.

Highlights of the Chapter: 

• Payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes can improve resilience to climate change
• The design of a PES scheme should consider equity criteria for users and providers
• Assessing minimum enabling conditions for PES implementation is key for success
• Four key components of a PES schemes should be assessed
• The rapid participatory appraisal guide, enables actors to assess key conditions

To cope with losses from extreme hydro-meteorological events, governments typically implement disaster relief programs and offer debt relief to affected parties. Governments in developing countries have made extensive use of total and partial debt coverage as a way to encourage investment in key sectors and in agriculture in particular. In the context of climate change, such practices are not viable because risk is systemic and losses can easily surpass most governments’ debt relief budgets.