Designing REDD plus schemes when forest users are not forest landowners: Evidence from a survey-based experiment in Kenya

Abstract

This study contributes to the debate on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and the relationship between land tenure and forest conservation. We investigate policies that create alternative livelihood options for people around REDD+ forests who are forest users but not forest landowners. We compare the performance of a conventional integrated conservation and development policy (ICDP) with an alternative hybrid policy that combines features of ICDP and payments for environmental services. Through a survey-based experiment in Kenya, we compare the effectiveness of different REDD+ payment schemes given rising opportunity costs of forest use. This study shows that hybrid approaches that provide alternative income opportunities to local people, target the local drivers of deforestation, are conditional on environmental outcomes, and account for changing opportunity costs could work as effective policy options. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.