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Real Conservation

  • 30/07/2005

Costa Rica: In 1996 it implemented an innovative programme of Payments for Environmental Services (PES). Through financial and legal mechanisms, local, national and international beneficiaries of forest services compensate those who protect them. Costa Rica's 1996 forestry law explicitly recognizes four ecosystem services provided by forests: carbon fixation and sequestration, hydrological services, biodiversity protection, scenic beauty. The law compensates those who provide these services.

Funds are allocated through the National Forestry Financial Fund, which works directly with people and also through NGOs. It raises money from international donors and national sources like a fuel tax and payments made by hydroelectric plants, and distributes this money through contracts with individuals or groups of people. There are three types of contracts

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