Labor as a Linchpin in Ecosystem Services Conservation: Appropriating Value from Collective Institutions?

Abstract

ABSTRACT The role of labor in value production for neoliberal conservation arrangements is a topic that has only recently begun to receive attention from scholars. Engaging with Marx’s labor theory of value, this article analyzes the interaction of a water fund Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program with labor institutions in the Ecuadorian Andes. Data from participant observation, key actor interviews, and textual materials support an empirical case study of the model water fund, Fondo para la protección del agua – FONAG. Despite neoliberal discourse promoting financial and material incentives as the main driver of conservation action, this article demonstrates how PES agreements interact with pre-existing labor and land use regimes to generate and circulate value beyond the contractual arrangement between the target community and PES promoters. This article furthermore highlights how value produced from pre-existing labor institutions may constitute an overlooked component of “green grabbing” as it may be unacknowledged and susceptible to appropriation by international organizations.