A systematic review of scientific publications on the effects of payments for ecosystem services in Latin America, 2000-2020

This article presents a systematic review of scientific publications on the effects of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes in Latin America (LA) from 2000-2020. A multi-dimensional perspective, using the Search, Appraisal, Synthesis, Analysis (SALSA) framework was followed to explore, describe and determine the PES effect in scientific articles indexed in Scopus, SciELO and Redalyc databases. We applied the qualitative method to describe the PES schemes, principal trends and general tendencies in studies reported in 72 preselected publications. The qualitative analysis included methodological steps, such as search, article screening, coding, data extraction, analysis and synthesis. Our review reveals that PES schemes in Latin America are primarily supported by public funds that are implemented at national scale with an average timescale of five years. The schemes are largely oriented toward conservation goals, hydrological modality and forestry systems, and are dominated by the traditional disciplinary approaches. The predominant effects of the schemes are mainly related to positive weak changes on environmental, social and economic aspects. In addition, collaboration among coauthors involved the USA, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, Costa Rica and the UK (including an important percentage of publications with authors from non-LA countries), with incipient LA intercountry co-workers. Results from this systematic review highlight issues that represent future challenges for studies of PES effects and open further dialog to improve the effectiveness of compensation programs to reduce the replication of undesirable impacts, lack of additionality, and the pursuit of perverse incentives regarding the complexity of social-ecological systems.