Payments to the rural poor for the sake of conserving tropical watersheds: A contingent valuation analysis in Ecuador

Examined in this paper are the potential contributions of PWES to conservation of the watershed in which Quito, Ecuador is located. Contingent-valuation (CV) analysis yields estimate of the payments that people dwelling high up in the drainage basin would demand in exchange for following conservation guidelines. Special attention is paid in this analysis to the sensitivity of these payments to agricultural dependence and income dependence among participating households. In a broad sense, this research addresses fundamental linkages between poverty in the Latin American countryside and the natural resources on which the rural poor depend and in which others have a sizable stake.