“Water Is Life”: Local Perceptions of Páramo Grasslands and Land Management Strategies Associated with Payment for Ecosystem Services

Andean páramo grasslands have long supported human populations that depend on them as forage for livestock and, increasingly, have been recognized as critical water sources with large soil carbon stores and high levels of biodiversity. Recent conservation efforts have used payment for ecosystem services (PES) to incentivize land management that aims to enhance ecosystem services related to water, carbon, and biodiversity, as well as local livelihoods. Data to assess ecological and social outcomes of these programs are limited, however. In particular, a better understanding of how incentivized land management practices affect the local values and uses of páramos is needed. We conducted interviews with PES participants on their perceptions of the value of páramos and of management practices incentivized through PES—afforestation and removal of burning—and linked them with data on ecological outcomes of those practices. We found that local perceptions of páramo values include provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services, underpinning basic needs, security, health, and social relations. In some cases, local perceptions align with research on ecological outcomes of PES, whereas in others, expectations of PES participants are unlikely to be met. We also found examples of both synergies—where PES land management strengthens an existing páramo value—and trade-offs, in which existing benefits might be diminished. By improving understanding of how people perceive the benefits they obtain from páramos and how participation in PES is likely to affect those uses and values, our findings help connect local perceptions with ecological science to inform policy and management.