Payment for Environmental Services and Pantanal’ protection: promise or debt?

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to analyze the role of payment for environmental services in the environmental protection of the Pantanal biome, which is known to be rich in terms of its ecosystem services. In pursuit of this objective, a qualitative analysis of the legal foundations that support the protection of biomes was applied, specifically related to the instruments that protect the Pantanal, both at federal and state level in Mato Grosso do Sul. This methodology was applied because of the hypothesis that the protection of the Pantanal through the use of payments for environmental services has been postponed at federal and state level, despite the fact that it is very compatible with the biome due to its rich ecosystem functions. The study concludes with partial confirmation of the hypothesis, since the specific protection of the Pantanal biome at the state level has been slowly built up over the last decade. However, it is not possible to say that this delay is due to the state government postponing the agenda, since there are PSA measures in the state in significantly large proportions. Even so, the government needs to pay attention to the criteria and duties present in the institutional arrangement for PES at the state level in order to guarantee its implementation and transparency, at the risk of incurring an unconstitutional omission, according to recent Supreme Court case law.