Protected areas reduced poverty in Costa Rica and Thailand

摘要: As global efforts to protect ecosystems expand, the socioeconomic impact of protected areas on neighboring human communities continues be a source intense debate. The debate persists because previous studies do not directly measure outcomes and use appropriate comparison groups account for potential confounders. We illustrate an approach using comprehensive national datasets quasi-experimental matching methods. estimate impacts area systems poverty in Costa Rica Thailand find that although near are indeed substantially poorer than averages, analysis based with controls does support hypothesis these differences can attributed areas. In contrast, results indicate net ecosystem protection was alleviate poverty.