Cash for carbon: A randomized trial of payments for ecosystem services to reduce deforestation

Seema Jayachandran, Joost De Laat, Eric F. Lambin, Charlotte Y. Stanton, Robin Audy, Nancy E. Thomas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

296 Scopus citations

Abstract

We evaluated a program of payments for ecosystem services in Uganda that offered forestowning households annual payments of 70,000 Ugandan shillings per hectare if they conserved their forest. The program was implemented as a randomized controlled trial in 121 villages, 60 of which received the program for 2 years. The primary outcome was the change in land area covered by trees, measured by classifying high-resolution satellite imagery. We found that tree cover declined by 4.2% during the study period in treatment villages, compared to 9.1% in control villages. We found no evidence that enrollees shifted their deforestation to nearby land. We valued the delayed carbon dioxide emissions and found that this program benefit is 2.4 times as large as the program costs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)267-273
Number of pages7
JournalScience
Volume357
Issue number6348
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 21 2017
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cash for carbon: A randomized trial of payments for ecosystem services to reduce deforestation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this