Comparison of land use change in payments for environmental services and National Biological Corridor Programs |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;2. LiDAR Applications for the Study of Ecosystems with Remote Sensing (LASERS) Laboratory, Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University,1500 Research Parkway Building B, Suite 217, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;3. Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Texas A&M University,Horticulture/Forest Science Building, 495 Horticulture St, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;4. Departamento de Geografía, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Naranjo, Costa Rica;5. Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 210 Nagle Hall, College Station, TX, 77843, USA;1. Área de la Cadena Agroalimentaria, Grupo Agroecosost, IFAPA, Camino de Purchil s/n, Granada, Spain;2. Área de la Cadena Agroalimentaria, IFAPA, Carretera Bailén-Motril, Mengibar, Jaén, Spain;1. Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department OTB, Delft University of Technology, PO Box 5043, 2600 GA, Delft, The Netherlands;2. Faculty of Law, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;3. Property lawyer at the Port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands;1. The W.A. Franke College of Business, Northern Arizona University, P.O. Box 15066, Flagstaff, AZ 86011, United States;2. School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, United States;1. Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Clark B-233, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA;2. Department of Sociology, Colorado State University, Clark B-240, Fort Collins, CO 80526, USA |
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| Abstract: | Costa Rica established the National Biological Corridor Program in 2006. Under the National Biological Corridor Program, the long-running Payment for Environmental Services Program was newly prioritized into biological corridors throughout the country. The National Biological Corridor Program caused a nationwide spatial shift in placement of payments for environmental services throughout Costa Rica. We classified ASTER 15-m resolution imagery in a central Costa Rica corridor connecting the eastern and western protected areas networks to analyze the change in forests during the National Biological Corridor Program with its targeted payments for environmental services effort. We used object-based classification methods, and compared land cover changes over an initial four-year period of corridor policy enactment. We calculated the changes within PES properties and outside of PES regions, and we also calculated forest patch metrics during the same time period. Results indicate a decline in forest cover over the study period, along with an increase in urban and pasture land covers, with higher change and loss of forest centered inside of the biological corridor, near the construction area for the new San Carlos highway, and within eastern pasture areas. We also saw a higher percentage of forest loss inside of the biological corridor area as compared to areas outside of the biological corridor. Forest loss was drastically less within current and historic PES properties, as compared to the overall study region. Across the entire study region, patch metrics show a decrease in the number of patches and a slight decrease in average patch size. These results suggest that current and past designation of PES prevents forest loss within PES properties while the current designation of priority conservation status via the National Biological Corridor Program is not increasing connectivity and forest conservation. This is shown by increased land use change and a decrease in forest associated with biological corridor designation. These results are antithetical to the goals of the National Biological Corridor Program. |
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| Keywords: | Buffer zones Deforestation Environmental policy Protected areas Remote sensing |
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