Determinants of Private Participation in Programs Delivering Natural Infrastructure as a Watershed Service: A Review

The success of many payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs is determined, in large part, by programs’ ability to successfully enroll participants. However, underenrollment remains a frequent challenge and little systematized knowledge about the determinants of participation is available. While case studies of PES programs abound, there is less work suggesting trends or lessons that can inform improvements in PES program design or operation to increase enrollment. In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis and description of the factors that broadly influence PES program participation. This paper's findings suggest that the different aspects of participant motivation deserve a central role in any model explaining program participation.