I am a biologist graduate in 1995 at the University of Brasilia (Brazil). Currently, I am a PhD student at the University of Florida at the School of Natural Resources and Environment, with concentration at the Tropical Conservation Development Program. During the last eleven years I have been working with public policies for the Amazon Region. I have expended most part of my professional career at the PPG7 program (Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest). There, I had the opportunity to work with different kinds of projects and also with different kinds of communities of the Amazon forest such as indigenous peoples, rural settlers, rubber tappers, and so on. I also developed a sense of planning and monitoring due to many years working with monitoring and control of this program. This professional experience helped me to understand the importance of local communities to reach the success of conservation programs. After the completion of my PhD I intend to work with public policies for the Amazon in institutions that promote the development in this region.

Research Statement: Applicability and Impacts of Payments for Environmental Services in the Brazilian Amazon

In my research I will analyze the potentialities of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) programs in the Brazilian Amazon. The Amazon forest is an important provider of environmental services such as carbon sequestration, ecosystems regulation and watershed protection. Currently, there are two representative PES programs in that region: the ProAmbiente and the Bolsa Floresta. However, other initiatives are emerging due to the mobilization of social movements and the recognition of the important role of communities into the provision of these services. The access of communities to these payments represents an opportunity for local people to social and economic improvements. Further it is a way to protect these services. Using quantitative methods (Ethnographic Linear Programming) and in-depth interviews I will analyze the social and economic impacts of these payments at both household and community levels. I am also interested in knowing the Willingness to Accept (WTA) of the small producers to get into these programs in order to implement sustainable activities in their lands. The findings of this study are relevant to decision makers who are implementing this kind of programs in Brazil and to the communities that should be fairly compensated for the provision of these services.