In the Amazon they pay for hectares protected from deforestation: compensation is effective but insufficient, according to experts
Academics from the University of the Andes maintain that other actors offer higher incentives for community members to support the felling of trees
Some international organizations seek to contain deforestation in the Amazon through a system of economic incentives aimed at farmers and indigenous people who cooperate with the conservation of ecosystems. This mechanism is known as Payments for Environmental Services (PSA). The plan is underway and has the supervision of different national and academic entities such as the Universidad de los Andes, which issued a report on the progress of the program that has already benefited 2,573 families in the Amazon region. The strategy, supported by the state Vision Amazonia program and financed mainly by international cooperation, proposes direct PES compensation that ranges between 600,000 and 1,200,000 Colombian pesos annually for each protected hectare. The agreements could be for up to three years. These figures, confirmed by academics from the university institution, allow communities to prioritize alternative productive systems such as agroforestry, cocoa cultivation or nature tourism. The document highlighted that most of the funds come from international schemes such as the UN mechanism Redd+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) - which pays for the verified reduction of carbon emissions - and, to a lesser extent, from national resources. Despite this, the sustainability of the PES depends on the creation of own funds and more solid carbon markets. Some agreements under the Redd+ system reach up to 10 or 12 dollars per ton of CO2 avoided, with contracts of up to ten years, according to the report. The shortcomings of the program: incentives to deforest are strongerHowever, the report, published in the Macro Note of February 2026, which is part of the Center for Studies on Economic Development of the Faculty of Economics of the Andes, indicates that the rebound in deforestation registered in 2024 exposes the vulnerability of the achievements. Although a significant drop in logging was reported in the Amazon in 2025, the permanence of more lucrative incentives to deforest – such as gold mining or illegal crops – keeps the challenge current. Payments for Environmental Services have proven to be effective in overcoming it, but Colombia has not developed them effectively due to institutional, legal, financial and social barriers that maintain incentives for deforestation that are higher than those for conservation. A combination of "command and control" instruments, formalization of rural property, green financing and participatory governance, led from the territories and supported by international cooperation, would allow the incentive framework to be transformed appropriately, he says. In the analysis, experts from the university described four other main obstacles that limit the expansion of the model: informality in land tenure, lack of institutional coordination, social challenges related to prior consultation and transparency, and dependence on external financing. In fact, only 63% of the resources allocated between 2019 and 2021 managed to be executed in the region. The academics also pointed out that the legitimacy of the Redd+ system has been questioned by social conflicts, delays in the execution of contracts and doubts about the distribution of benefits, especially in indigenous territories. But they also stated that if these initiatives allow the strengthening of the state approach, respect for collective rights and independent supervision are essential for its continuity. Among the recommendations, the authors suggested moving forward in the formalization of land tenure, improve the interoperability of public registries, guarantee transparency in consultation and negotiation, and develop innovative financial instruments such as green credits and climate insurance. From the Universidad de los Andes they emphasized that the consolidation of PES requires legal, institutional and financial adjustments to become a sustainable public policy. The future of the Colombian Amazon forest depends, in part, on the state and social capacity to maintain these incentives in the face of economic pressures that promote deforestation.
