A scenario approach to assess stakeholder preferences for ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes of Costa Rica

In many developing rural areas, efforts to avoid degradation of soil regulation services (SRS) face significant challenges especially in steep slopes due to the combined effect of climate change-related extreme precipitation and inadequate soil management practices in agriculture and grazing. In order to design socially desirable alternatives to the status quo, it is important to identify and engage relevant stakeholders to discuss the evaluation of land use and management alternative scenarios. However, innovative methods are needed to ensure the best use of available knowledge and often scarce data. We use structured value referendum (SVR) poll-type voting which is a value-focused decision-making process that can be used to create land use scenarios combining expert knowledge, modeling and stakeholders' perspectives. We applied this approach to a Costa Rican watershed affected by heavy soil erosion. We engaged actors directly concerned with the on- and off-site effects of SRS degradation such as upstream farmers, a downstream hydropower facility affected by siltation and watershed planners. Results from preference elicitation regarding watershed land use scenarios showed that actors preferred alternatives to the status quo. They supported win-win land use strategies that protect SRS through soil conservation practices to be implemented in critical agricultural plots. Along with other land use scenario approaches that engage stakeholders, application of SVR can promote discussion and learning among interested parties and, at least in watershed conservation initiatives, can lead to identification of opportunities for joint gains among upstream land users and downstream users of soil- and water-related ecosystem services.