2026-10-07T13:02:12Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/33977427 2026-09-23T18:00:54Z category_39 category_45 category_106 portal_5 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

<p>Placebo test results for the CTS program.</p> Hugo Charoud (25099171) Esteve Corbera (557287) Lina Moros (3144402) Sébastien Costedoat (711792) Santiago Izquierdo-Tort (25099174) Ecology Sociology Science Policy targeted smaller patches landowners whilst laying caminemos &# 8211 supported sustainable land territorios sostenibles </ halt smallholder deforestation sustainable land use providing cash payments div >< p distinct pes designs comprehensive land use activities versus </ nico </ halting deforestation deterring deforestation year period two payments silvopastoral practices restoration commitments overarching goals management approach ifa focuses ifa ), higher risk geographic focus forest loss farm level ecosystem services country ’ complementary role colombian amazon broader area armed groups areas contested annualized impacts agricultural frontier 8 %). 400 hectares <div><p>In this article, we assess the impact of two Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) initiatives aimed at deterring deforestation in the department of Guaviare, Colombia. The initiatives are the government-led <i>Incentivo Forestal Amazónico</i> (IFA), which is part of the country’s REDD+ strategy, and the NGO-driven <i>Caminemos–Territorios Sostenibles</i> (CTS) project, which supported sustainable land-use activities over a four-year period. We find that, combined, these initiatives prevented approximately 1,400 hectares of forest loss, though they differed in their annualized impacts (2.9% <i>versus</i> 3.8%). We argue that this difference likely reflects variations in the type of incentives provided, their geographic focus, and their overarching goals. IFA focuses on larger, less threatened forest patches across a broader area, providing cash payments to landowners whilst laying the foundations for a long-term conservation and management approach. CTS, in contrast, targeted smaller patches at higher risk of deforestation along Guaviare’s agricultural frontier, offering targeted technical assistance and payments for a series of conservation and restoration commitments at farm level, including the adoption of silvopastoral practices. Considering these findings, we argue that distinct PES designs can play a complementary role in halting deforestation in the Colombian Amazon, and potentially in similar regions across tropical America. We call for more sustained and scaled-up efforts in sustainable land use and forest conservation for smallholders, while recognizing that such initiatives will remain insufficient unless scaling is accompanied by substantially stronger territorial state presence and governance in areas contested by armed groups, as well as comprehensive land-use policy reform.</p></div> 2026-09-23T18:00:37Z Dataset Dataset 10.1371/journal.pone.0340539.t006 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_p_Placebo_test_results_for_the_CTS_program_p_/33977427 CC BY 4.0