Effects of payments for environmental services in the adoption of silvopastoral systems in cattle landscape in the middle watershed of Río La Vieja, Colombia

The environmental problems caused by traditional cattle ranching in the La Vieja river basin in Colombia motivated the search for tools to encourage the use of land use systems that improve farm profitability and contribute to the generation of environmental services. This study was carried out within the framework of the Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches for Ecosystem Management (GEF-Silvopastoral) project, from 2003 to 2006, whose objective was to evaluate how payment for environmental services (PES) affects land use changes on cattle ranches. The study area was located in the middle basin of the La Vieja River, where the main activities are coffee growing and cattle ranching. We worked with 104 small and medium producers, randomly assigned to a group with PES and one without. The PES group was subdivided into farms subject only to PES and farms with PES + technical assistance (TA). An index was developed as a tool for payment for environmental services, based on carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation.