Are poor people excluded due to “too strict”
Protecting people and the environment: Lessons learnt from Br azil’s Bolsa Verde,
China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, South Africa and 56 other experiences
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Mexico, were originally very restrictive and did not allow any use of the involved land. In Costa Rica, this changed with the introduction of agroforestry contracts permitting the
sustainable use of the land by combining agricultural activities with forest conversation. In Mexico, PSAH now promotes management practices which allow for productive activities
according to the Forest Management Plans The Solution Journal, 2012; FAO, 2013b. In Ecuador, subsistence hunting and gathering of non-timber products has always been
allowed. Socio Bosque
also facilitates participants’ access to credit due to agreements with the public rural development bank. In China, extraction of products from the forest has
always been allowed, provided that the trees are mature. SLCP also promotes activities such as silviculture, cultivation of fruits, and livestock farming. Participants are officially
granted the right to the products of their forests. All the programmes under review allow the sustainable use of land and can therefore be classified as asset-building schemes.
However, no documentation was found indicating that training, skills development, or education elements take place regularly in Costa Rica, Mexico, and China. In Ecuador,
capacity building workshops, e.g. on financial management and control and surveillance, are conducted by civil society organizations in which Socio Bosque has established
alliances. They also support participants in developing agroforestry or agro-tourism activities. In South Africa, participants are obliged to take part in work-related as well as in
health-related trainings. Bolsa Verde also allows for sustainable use of the land in line with the signed agreements. It also foresees environmental, social, technical, and professional
training for participants to support the adoption of alternative land use. However, as of early 2014, no such trainings had been launched and it is not yet documented to what
extent participants engage in alternative land use.
It is important that people can rely on the continuation of a programme so that they can make long-term investments and develop long-term income strategies. Such guarantees
are difficult in private programmes. In general, a buyer needs to be satisfied with the service to continue purchasing the service in the future. However, there might also be
outside circumstances which could stop a company from buying ES. Also, donor-led schemes automatically end at some point, which might cause people to not engage in long-
term investments. In government schemes, it is important to ensure that the programme
will continue even after a change of government. Guaranteeing a programme’s continuation can be improved by enshrining the programme into law and thus creating a
legal framework Wunder, 2005; RECOFTC, 2009; UN-REDD, 2013. All programmes under review, except for Ecuador, have been instituted by law.
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The ILO Social Protection Floors Recommendation, 2012 No. 202, requires that policies and programmes be built
upon a strong legal basis as part of the concept of a rights-based approach. Regarding long-term planning, the duration of the individual contracts with the
participants also needs to be considered. They need to be long enough for people to develop and implement sustainable alternative employment and income possibilities. In the
programmes reviewed in this study, the durations range from two to eight years in China, five years in Mexico, five to 15 years in Costa Rica, and 20 years in Ecuador. In Mexico
and Costa Rica, participants can reapply after the end of the contract, while in Ecuador contracts are automatically extended. The contracts with Bolsa Verde participants are only
valid for up to two years. Although they can be extended, this initial period seems to be comparatively short for effectively changing land-use practices and developing reliable
new sources of income.
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The Ministerial Ordinance points to rights and principles foreseen in the Constitution. However, there is no specific law instituting the Socio Bosque programme.
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Protecting people and the environment: Lessons learnt from Brazil’s Bolsa Verde,
China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, South Africa and 56 other experiences