More than just linking the nodes: civil society actors as intermediaries in the design and implementation of payments for ecosystem services – the case of a blue carbon project in Costa Rica.

verfasst von

Barbara Schröter, Bettina Matzdorf, Isabel Hackenberg, Jennifer Hauck

Abstract

While in many cases the benefits of ecosystem services (ES) can be enjoyed on different scales, the provision of ES requires engagement and commitment at the local scale. Therefore, the local level becomes important when thinking about compensation schemes or payments for ecosystem services (PES) as an approach to managing ES. The difficult task of bringing together different actors and institutions at different scales for specific conservation projects at the local level often remains in the hands of intermediaries. In this paper, we investigate the role of a civil society organisation (CSO) as an intermediary organisation in a PES scheme, the Community Blue Carbon Project (CBCP) in Costa Rica. To assess the role of intermediaries in a PES scheme, we rely on social network analysis and examine the position and role of the intermediary organisation. Based on Net-Map interviews, which is an interview-based mapping tool that helps people understand, visualise, discuss and improve situations in which many different actors influence outcomes, we find that the intermediary organisation in the CBCP is composed of several institutional and individual intermediaries who create both formal networks for connecting the international to the local level and informal networks for creating trusting relationships among the actors. Different spatial levels are reflected within the CSO’s organisational structure, and the CSO mitigates the distributional, procedural, recognition and contextual aspects of environmental justice.

Externe Organisation(en)

Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V.
Helmholtz Zentrum München - Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt
CoKnow Consulting - Coproducing Knowledge for Sustainability

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Local Environment

Band

23

Seiten

635-651

Anzahl der Seiten

17

Publikationsdatum

09.04.2018

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Geografie, Planung und Entwicklung, Management, Monitoring, Politik und Recht

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2018.1460808 (Zugang: Geschlossen)