Comercio de servicios ambientales y desarrollo sostenible en Centroamérica: Los casos de Costa Rica y El Salvador

This executive summary examines the emergence of environmental services markets in Central America, focusing on Costa Rica's leadership in carbon emission reductions and El Salvador's potential for biodiversity and carbon sequestration through shade-grown coffee. It analyzes how international agreements like the Kyoto Protocol and the Convention on Biological Diversity create financial opportunities for developing nations to link environmental conservation with sustainable economic development.

• Costa Rica has established a comprehensive institutional framework to participate in the international carbon market, including the creation of the Oficina Costarricense de Implementación Conjunta (OCIC) in 1995 and the 'Fondo de Gases' in 1996 to manage foreign investments in Joint Implementation projects.
• Costa Rica's sustainable development strategy relies heavily on ecotourism and the energy sector. Tourism grew at an average annual rate of 15% from 1987 to 1995, with visitors reaching nearly 800,000 in 1993, necessitating the preservation of forest cover to maintain natural attractions.
• Costa Rica implemented a multi-generational incentive system for reforestation, evolving from income tax deductions in 1979 to the 1996 Forestry Law (No. 7575), which introduced Payments for Environmental Services (PSA) funded by a fuel tax.
• Costa Rica has utilized Certified Tradable Offsets (CTOs) to commercialize carbon reductions. In December 1997, the country completed its first transaction of 200,000 metric tons of carbon with the government and private companies from Norway for 2 million dollars.
• In El Salvador, the economic importance of coffee has declined significantly, with its contribution to the GDP falling from nearly 10% in 1981 to less than 3% in 1997, leading to land-use changes toward urban and industrial development.
• Shade-grown coffee plantations in El Salvador act as 'coffee forests' that provide critical environmental services, including water regulation for urban centers and habitats for migratory birds, serving as substitutes for natural tropical forests.
• El Salvador is implementing a pilot project supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to create a biological corridor of shade-grown coffee connecting the El Imposible and Los Volcanes areas, covering approximately 75,000 hectares.
• The document identifies a potential for El Salvador to use the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism to promote revegetation through shade-grown coffee, which could increase the country's biomass and carbon sequestration capacity.
• Costa Rica's PSA system faces sustainability challenges due to the country's fiscal situation and perceived tax injustice, as the fuel tax burden falls on a population segment that may not directly benefit from the environmental services.

APA

Cuéllar, N., Herrador, D., & González, M. (1999). Comercio de servicios ambientales y desarrollo sostenible en Centroamérica: Los casos de Costa Rica y El Salvador. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/prismasumrprt_s.pdf

Chicago

Cuéllar, Nelson, Doribel Herrador, and Martha González. Comercio de servicios ambientales y desarrollo sostenible en Centroamérica: Los casos de Costa Rica y El Salvador. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 1999. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/prismasumrprt_s.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cuéllar |first1=Nelson |last2=Herrador |first2=Doribel |last3=González |first3=Martha |title=Comercio de servicios ambientales y desarrollo sostenible en Centroamérica: Los casos de Costa Rica y El Salvador |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=1999 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/prismasumrprt_s.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cullar1999comercio, author = {Cuéllar, Nelson and Herrador, Doribel and González, Martha}, title = {{Comercio de servicios ambientales y desarrollo sostenible en Centroamérica: Los casos de Costa Rica y El Salvador}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {1999}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/prismasumrprt_s.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }