Costa Rica Payments for Environmental Services (FONAFIFO)
Costa Rica's FONAFIFO pays the owners of forests and forest plantations for the environmental services they provide, under Forestry Law 7575 (FONAFIFO).
Image: NASA (iss062e001866, Costa Rica, Feb. 8, 2020).
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Costa Rica pays people to keep their forests standing.
Costa Rica's programme changed 'subsidy' into 'economic recognition' for the services forests provide, including cutting emissions, protecting water and The variety of all living things in a place: plants, animals, fungi and tiny microbes. Glossary (FONAFIFO).
Explain Like I'm 10
- Forests clean the air, keep water safe and give animals a home.
- In Costa Rica the government pays forest owners for those services.
- So keeping trees standing becomes worth it for the people who own the land.
The Five W's of Costa Rica's forest payments
Who
Costa Rica's national forestry financing fund, FONAFIFO, working with SINAC and others.
What
Payments to forest and plantation owners for four recognised services: reducing A gas, like carbon dioxide or methane, that traps heat in the air around Earth, the way a greenhouse keeps plants warm. Glossary, protecting biodiversity, protecting water and scenic beauty.
When
The programme is set up under Forestry Law 7575, part of Costa Rica's environmental legislation of the 1990s.
Why
To reduce deforestation, recover forest cover and support rural development, among other aims (FONAFIFO).
Connected Solutions
- Mangroves Why coastal mangrove forests matter, and the teams restoring them.
Impact Statement
Government solution · active
FONAFIFO lists reduced deforestation, recovery of forest cover and degraded land, and rural development among the programme's effects (FONAFIFO).
Source: FONAFIFO, Payment of Environmental Services
For Further Information: FONAFIFO, Payment of Environmental Services
Funding first came from one third of the fuel consumption tax, and now 3.5% of the single fuel tax goes to the programme (FONAFIFO).
How This Saves People & the Planet
For People
The programme contributes to rural development and to national strategies to fight poverty (FONAFIFO).
Source: FONAFIFO, Payment of Environmental Services
For Nature
It recognises forests for climate, biodiversity, water and scenic value (FONAFIFO).
Learn About the Programme
Want to go deeper? FONAFIFO explains how Costa Rica's payments work.
For Further InformationHelp This Work
Links go straight to the organization. Saving Planets doesn't receive any of the money.