Community perceptions in a collective PES on mangrove conservation: a case study from the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are increasingly implemented worldwide as an instrument to provide incentives to landowners and communities for the provision of ecosystem services. Whereas most of the interventions target in-land forest conservation, mangrove ecosystems are often not considered. Similarly, evaluations tend to focus on the environmental and economic effects, while the social dimension is usually relegated to the background. The present research attempts to address these gaps through the qualitative exploration of community perceptions within a collective PES scheme on mangrove conservation, with a particular focus on the relational social effects among stakeholders. The study comprises 10 key expert interviews with institutional actors involved in PES and the examination of participants’ perceptions in 2 communities in the Gulf of Nicoya, Costa Rica. The analysis indicates that the project had an impact on the social, economic and environmental spheres, with special relevance for the social dimension. Among other effects, the intervention seems to have strengthened collaboration and trust among participants and institutions, to have reinforced the local identity, to have led to the creation of a new community-managed enterprise and to have increased the environmental awareness of participants. The research also underpins the relevance of local-ecological knowledge (LEK) for the implementation of environmental conservation projects.