Ecosystem services science has developed at a fast rate in Latin America, a region characterized by a high biological and cultural diversity, strong emphasis in foreign investment, and high socioeconomic inequities.
Payment for ecosystem services (PES) has been widely promoted as an effective and efficient model for conservation; however, few studies have empirically examined how the market-based approach interacts with farmer's decision-making processes and their abilities to sustain new conservation practices.
We discuss coastal shellfisheries management and governance models in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at different scales. Self-imposed governance with spatial property rights, internal rules and co-management resulted in successful local shellfisheries.
Livestock production in Latin America has replaced tropical dry forests with conventional monocultures pastures (CP) that have degraded soils. As an alternative to CP, intensive silvopastoral systems (ISS) have been developed with multi-canopied vegetation that mimics native forest (F).
