What are we learning from experiences with markets for environmental services in Costa Rica? A review and critique of the literature

This paper aimed to analyze the growing body of literature on markets for environmental services in Costa Rica. Most of the collecting of references, analysis, and writing took place in 2001 and early 2002. Given the dynamic nature of the topic we had to stop gathering new references at some point in order to be able to complete the paper. We chose March 2002 as a cut off date, with some exceptions.
Trying to document an evolving subject was a challenging task. As we were writing, new ideas and references were emerging. This is a reflection of Costa Rica, which has been a prolific laboratory of experiences in the environmental field during the last twenty years. There is no doubt that by the time this paper is published the reality in Costa Rica will be different from what we describe here. Nonetheless, we consider the paper can provide a useful analysis of the period ending in 2001.