Earth & Environment

Measuring Forest Conservation Effectiveness

Published December 2, 2019 Partnered Collections, Special Issues

Scholars and practitioners have repeatedly called for more and better impact evaluation of conservation policies. This PLOS ONE collection brings together a series of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of tropical forest conservation policies and programs, such as protected areas, forest law enforcement, payments for ecosystem services, certification, and community-based forest management. It contributes by: (1) evaluating both conservation and development outcomes of a variety of interventions in diverse conservation contexts in Latin America, Asia, and Africa; and (2) highlighting methodological challenges and research priorities for building a systematic evidence base in conservation policy research.

Image Credit: Ricky Martin for Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

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Overview
Research

Overview

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10.1371/journal.pone.0159152

PLOS ONE Emerging Evidence on the Effectiveness of Tropical Forest Conservation
November 2, 2016 Jan Börner, Kathy Baylis, Esteve Corbera, Driss Ezzine-de-Blas, Paul J. Ferraro, Jordi Honey-Rosés, Renaud Lapeyre, U. Martin Persson, Sven Wunder

Research

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10.1371/journal.pone.0225367

PLOS ONE Adding rewards to regulation: The impacts of watershed conservation on land cover and household wellbeing in Moyobamba, Peru
November 20, 2019 Javier Montoya-Zumaeta, Eduardo Rojas, Sven Wunder
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10.1371/journal.pone.0167945

PLOS ONE Goldilocks and the Raster Grid: Selecting Scale when Evaluating Conservation Programs
December 22, 2016 Andre Fernandes Tomon Avelino, Kathy Baylis, Jordi Honey-Rosés
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10.1371/journal.pone.0119881

PLOS ONE How Effective Are Biodiversity Conservation Payments in Mexico?
March 25, 2015 Sébastien Costedoat, Esteve Corbera, Driss Ezzine-de-Blas, Jordi Honey-Rosés, Kathy Baylis, Miguel Angel Castillo-Santiago
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10.1371/journal.pone.0121544

PLOS ONE Post-Crackdown Effectiveness of Field-Based Forest Law Enforcement in the Brazilian Amazon
April 15, 2015 Jan Börner, Krisztina Kis-Katos, Jorge Hargrave, Konstantin König
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10.1371/journal.pone.0124910

PLOS ONE Evaluating Interactions of Forest Conservation Policies on Avoided Deforestation
April 24, 2015 Juan Robalino, Catalina Sandoval, David N. Barton, Adriana Chacon, Alexander Pfaff
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10.1371/journal.pone.0125531

PLOS ONE Effects of Community-Based Natural Resource Management on Household Welfare in Namibia
May 12, 2015 Brianne Riehl, Robin Naidoo, Hisham Zerriffi
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10.1371/journal.pone.0124872

PLOS ONE Evaluating Heterogeneous Conservation Effects of Forest Protection in Indonesia
June 3, 2015 Payal Shah, Kathy Baylis
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10.1371/journal.pone.0129675

PLOS ONE Social and Environmental Impacts of Forest Management Certification in Indonesia
July 1, 2015 Daniela A. Miteva, Colby J. Loucks, Subhrendu K. Pattanayak
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10.1371/journal.pone.0131544

PLOS ONE Do Payments Pay Off? Evidence from Participation in Costa Rica’s PES Program
July 10, 2015 R. A. Arriagada, E. O. Sills, P. J. Ferraro, S. K. Pattanayak
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10.1371/journal.pone.0132590

PLOS ONE Estimating the Impacts of Local Policy Innovation: The Synthetic Control Method Applied to Tropical Deforestation
July 14, 2015 Erin O. Sills, Diego Herrera, A. Justin Kirkpatrick, Amintas Brandão Jr., Rebecca Dickson, Simon Hall, Subhrendu Pattanayak, David Shoch, Mariana Vedoveto, Luisa Young, Alexander Pfaff
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10.1371/journal.pone.0133252

PLOS ONE Impacts of Community-Based Natural Resource Management on Wealth, Food Security and Child Health in Tanzania
July 17, 2015 Sharon Pailler, Robin Naidoo, Neil D. Burgess, Olivia E. Freeman, Brendan Fisher
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10.1371/journal.pone.0129460

PLOS ONE Protected Areas’ Impacts on Brazilian Amazon Deforestation: Examining Conservation – Development Interactions to Inform Planning
July 30, 2015 Alexander Pfaff, Juan Robalino, Diego Herrera, Catalina Sandoval
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10.1371/journal.pone.0148094

PLOS ONE Creating Protected Areas on Public Lands: Is There Room for Additional Conservation?
February 5, 2016 Rodrigo A. Arriagada, Cristian M. Echeverria, Danisa E. Moya
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10.1371/journal.pone.0149374

PLOS ONE Evaluating Payments for Environmental Services: Methodological Challenges
February 24, 2016 Gwenolé Le Velly, Céline Dutilly
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10.1371/journal.pone.0147829

PLOS ONE Evaluation of the Permanence of Land Use Change Induced by Payments for Environmental Services in Quindío, Colombia
March 1, 2016 Stefano Pagiola, Jordi Honey-Rosés, Jaume Freire-González
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10.1371/journal.pone.0136402

PLOS ONE Naming and Shaming for Conservation: Evidence from the Brazilian Amazon
September 23, 2015 Elías Cisneros, Sophie Lian Zhou, Jan Börner