“Payments for environmental services” in municipalities of northwest paulista

Abstract

Legal impositions and the decrease in the quality of environmental goods led the State to have environmental protection concern. First, it took place through command and control methods, imposing sanctions on those who caused environmental degradation. However, as it was not enough, the possibility of granting benefits to those who practiced correct environmental measures (premium law) was foreseen. And more recently, the policy of payment for environmental services (PSA) has been adopted. This work was based on documentary research in official sources in eleven municipalities in the northwest of São Paulo with a population of less than 70,000 inhabitants, seeking to determine the budgetary amount allocated to environmental preservation and the existence of laws regulating the PSA policy. We conclude that only the municipalities of Santa Fé do Sul, Indiaporã, and Fernandópolis have a budget compatible with environmental preservation, and the last one has a law regulating the PSA. The PSA policy entails exemption from public coffers, presenting itself as a promising economic instrument for protecting the environment.