Abstract

CERVANTES ZAVALA, Ronal; SANCHEZ UZCATEGUI, José Miguel; RENDON SCHNEIR, Eric  and  ALEGRE ORIHUELA, Julio. Are investments in natural infrastructure cost-effective? A contextual analysis of payments for hydric ecosystem services. Manglar [online]. 2022, vol.19, n.1, pp.53-60.  Epub Mar 15, 2022. ISSN 1816-7667.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17268/manglar.2022.007.

The growing deterioration of water ecosystem services as the lack of budgetary resources for their recovery and management as well, are a global concern. This forces to prioritize the most appropriate measure among a range of possibilities. The economic evaluation of cost-effectiveness is one of the technical alternatives indicated by this value judgment. This study seeks to know if investments in natural infrastructure, dictated by the Peruvian State, are cost-effective in a scenario of payment for watershed ecosystem services, implemented in the Mariño river basin. To do this, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of four water regulation strategies was compared, then it was evaluated with the cost-effectiveness threshold that was established according to the willingness to pay of the population of Abancay. The evaluation indicates that a natural infrastructure project that promotes the active recovery of ecosystem services is not profitable since its cost-effectiveness ratio (0.35 PEN or 0.091 USD/m3 of water) exceeds the cost-effectiveness threshold (0.20 PEN or 0.052 USD/m3 of water). The results offer relevant elements to choose investment alternatives in a context of budget constraint.

Keywords : ecosystem services; water regulation; cost-effectiveness threshold; willingness to pay..

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