Scaling participation in payments for ecosystem services programs

Payments for ecosystem services programs have become common tools but most have failed to achieve wide-ranging conservation outcomes. The capacity for scale and impact increases when PES programs are designed through the lens of the potential participants, yet this has received little attention in research or practice. Our work with small-scale marine fisheries integrates the social science of PES programs and provides a framework for designing programs that focus a priori on scaling. In addition to payments, desirable non-monetary program attributes and ecological feedbacks attract a wider range of potential participants into PES programs, including those who have more negative attitudes and lower trust. Designing programs that draw individuals into participating in PES programs is likely the most strategic path to reaching scale. Research should engage in new models of participatory research to understand these dynamics and to design programs that explicitly integrate a broad range of needs, values, and modes of implementation.

生态系统服务付费（Payments for Ecosystem Services, PES）项目已成为常用的政策工具，但多数项目未能实现广泛的保护成效。若以潜在参与者的视角设计PES项目，项目的规模化能力与影响效果均可得到提升，但这一思路在研究与实践中均未得到足够重视。本研究针对小型海洋渔业开展的工作整合了PES项目的社会科学研究成果，并提出了一个以先验规模化设计为核心的项目框架。除经济补偿外，具备吸引力的非货币项目属性与生态反馈机制，能够吸引更广泛的潜在参与者加入PES项目，其中包括那些原本态度较为消极、信任度较低的群体。设计能够吸引个体参与PES项目的机制，或许是实现项目规模化的最优战略路径。未来研究应采用新型参与式研究范式，以厘清上述动态机制，并设计出能够充分整合多元需求、价值理念与实施方式的项目方案。