Arranjos institucionais em pagamento por serviços ambientais: o caso da bacia do Miringuava na região metropolitana de Curitiba

Abstract

This research consists of a contribution to the social sciences regarding biodiversity and ecosystem services as well as the study of public policies and institutions for sustainable local development. Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) has become popular worldwide over the past decade and has attracted large state and private investments in conservation to improve the flow of ecosystem services and human well-being. The importance of the institutional arrangement and factors beyond the mere payment for conservation are already recognized in the literature, but need more empirical exploration. This research documents the history of the watershed PES in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, exploring characteristics of its actors, describing and contextualizing them and considering the differences of PES in a Brazilian metropolitan environment. The theoretical bases are located in the studies of Science, Technology and Society (STS), institutional economics and the Collective Action Theory in commons dilemmas. Through a social network analysis and the eight design principles of institutional robustness of Elinor Ostrom, the actors and institutional factors are analyzed in the socio-ecological system of the PES arrangement. This research points out potential for improvements, in terms of the participation of actors from the local community and considering the integration of their institutions.