PES, peasants and power in Andean watersheds power relations and payment for environmental services projects in Colombia and Ecuador

208 Pages·2013·5.849 MB·English

by  Jean Carlo Rodríguez de Francisco

PES, Peasants and Power in

Andean Watersheds

Power relations and payment for
environmental services projects in Colombia
and Ecuador

Jean Carlo Rodríguez de Francisco
Thesis committee
Promotor
Prof. Dr L.F. Vincent
Professor of Irrigation and Water Engineering
Wageningen University

Co-promotors
Dr R.A. Boelens
Associate Professor, Water Resources Management
Wageningen University

Dr J. Budds
Senior Lecturer
School of International Development
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK

Other members
Prof. Dr M. Baud, University of Amsterdam
Dr B. Büscher, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus
University, Rotterdam
Prof. Dr J. Martínez-Alier, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain
Prof. Dr J. D. van der Ploeg, Wageningen University

This research was conducted under the auspices of the Wageningen
School of Social Sciences.
PES, Peasants and Power in

Andean Watersheds

Power relations and payment for
environmental services projects in Colombia
and Ecuador

Jean Carlo Rodríguez de Francisco

Thesis
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor
at Wageningen University
by the authority of the Rector Magnificus
Prof. Dr M.J. Kropff,
in the presence of the
Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board
to be defended in public
on Monday 16 December 2013
at 1.30 p.m. in the Aula.
Jean Carlo Rodríguez de Francisco
PES, Peasants and Power in Andean Watersheds: Power relations and
payment for environmental services in Colombia and Ecuador,

PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2013)
With references, with summaries in Dutch, English and Spanish

ISBN 978-94-6173-786-1
i

Contents
Chapter 1. General Introduction 1
1.1. Problem context 2
1.2. Defining payment for environmental services 5
1.3. Conservation, PES schemes and watershed management 8
1.4. Defining power 12
1.5. Understanding natural resource management and conservation
from a political ecology perspective 14
1.6. PES and the neoliberalisation of nature 16
1.7. Case studies and brief context description 18
1.8. Research questions 24
1.9. Methods for empirically addressing power in PES 25
1.10. Structure of this thesis 28
Chapter 2. Payment for environmental services as a powerful
policy model 33
2.1. Introduction 34
2.2. PES policy modelling, experts, and reality construction 36
2.3. Methods for analysing PES mainstreaming in Colombia 41
2.4. Framing the Colombian National PES Strategy 42
2.5. Discussion 50
2.6. Conclusion 53
Chapter 3. Payments for environmental services and changing
control over natural resources: public and private sector roles
in conservation of the Nima watershed, Colombia 55
3.1. Introduction 56
3.2. Theoretical notions for analysing the Nima case study 58
3.3. Case study context and methods 61
3.4. Results 67
3.5. Discussion 70
ii
3.6. Conclusion 73
Chapter 4. Payment for environmental services and unequal
resource control in Pimampiro, Ecuador 77
4.1. Introduction 78
4.2. PES: concept, rationale, and power relations 79
4.3. Watershed PES in Pimampiro, Ecuador 83
4.4. Social relations and vested interests shaping the design,
implementation and outcomes of the PES scheme 90
4.5. Conclusion 96
Chapter 5. Payment for environmental services and power in the
Chamachán watershed, Ecuador 99
5.1. Introduction 100
5.2. Multiple forms, spaces and levels of power: conceptual notes 102
5.3. A power analysis of the Chamachán watershed PES 105
5.4. The Chamachán watershed PES 106
5.5. PES conservation in the eyes of Chamachán’s peasants 115
5.6. Discussion 117
5.7. Conclusion 119
Chapter 6. General Conclusions 121
6.1. Introduction 122
6.2. Power in PES(-like) schemes and its influences on peasants 123
6.3. Power in PES policy making 128
6.4. Research implications 132
6.5. Development and practical implications 134
6.6. Future studies 136
6.7. Final remark 137
iii
List of figures
Figure 1-1 Location of case studies in this thesis ................................. 22
Figure 3-1 Nima watershed .............................................................. 62
Figure 3-2 Actors and institutions in the Nima PES scheme .................. 64
Figure 4-1 Watersheds of the Pimampiro region .................................. 87
Figure 5-1 The power cube..............................................................102
Figure 5-2 PES schemes and water network in Pimampiro (Sketch) ......108
iv
v
Abbreviations and Acronyms

Asocaña Asociación de Cultivadores de Caña de Azúcar de
Colombia
Asurnima Asociación de Usuarios de Aguas del Rio Nima, Colombia
AVSF-CICDA Agronomes et Vétérinaires Sans Frontières
Camaren Consorcio de Capacitación en el Manejo de los Recursos
Naturales, Ecuador
CARE Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere
CBC Centro Bartolomé de las Casas, Peru
Cederena Corporación para el Desarrollo de los Recursos
Naturales, Ecuador
CESA Central Ecuatoriana de Servicios Agrícolas
CI Conservation International
CIAT International Centre for Tropical Agriculture
Cinara Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en
Abastecimiento de Agua, Saneamiento Ambiental y
Conservación del Recurso Hídrico, Colombia
CNRH Consejo Nacional de Recursos Hídricos, Ecuador
CVC Corporación Autónoma Regional del Valle del Cauca,
Colombia
DFC Desarrollo Forestal Comunitario, Ecuador
DNP Departamento Nacional de Planeación, Colombia
EPSA Empresa de Energía del Pacífico, Colombia