La percepción del Programa de Pago por Servicios Ambientales en la Comunidad de San Miguel y Santo Tomás Ajusco (México)

The results of the study about the perception of effects of the implementing process of the federal Payment program for Environmental Services (PES) in the San Miguel and Santo Tomás Ajusco community, Federal District, Mexico, are presented in this paper. In this scheme the suppliers of forest environmental services (mostly communities and ejidos) receive financial compensation to perform conservation activities that are determined by the same program, which is administered in Mexico by the National Forestry Commission (CONAFOR). Two types of actors involved in this process were located: the CONAFOR (representing the buyer of environmental services), and the communities on whose decision depends the implementation and continuity of the program in a given territory. The analysis thus focused on the perception of effects within the community where surveys to two groups of representatives with different power of decision were applied: to the workers that are in charge of conservation works and to the community members who are part of the General Assembly. The heterogeneity of opinions was evident as the need to thoroughly evaluate the effects of the program, in order to propose improvements to the instrument and to achieve greater impact on society and the environment.