Influence of the Rural/Urban Context in the Implementation of Forest Conservation Programs in Mexico: Two Case Studies from Oaxaca and Mexico City

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is one of the most commonly used economic instruments developed for biological conservation. Evidence has shown the importance of the local context in PES design and implementation, and the complexity of defining and specifying this context. We developed a proposal to narrow the local context, using the social-ecological system’s framework, through two case studies: San Antonio, an indigenous community in Oaxaca, Mexico, and El Ajusco, a community in the periphery of Mexico City. This chapter discusses ten variables drawn from a series of interviews to approach the local context. Four of these variables stand out because of their incidence on the way PES outcomes are perceived, and on the local context definition: opportunity costs, confidence and cooperation, internal organization, and the presence and experience of NGOs.