Jaguar Conservation Units as Effective Tool in a Payment for Ecosystem Services Scheme for Apex Predator

This paper proposes a redefinition of Jaguar Conservation Units, emphasizing the role of private rural properties in jaguar populations in Brazil while mitigating conflicts with the species and allowing a more effective implementation of payment for the species’ environmental services. Jaguars prey domestic livestock, leading to retaliatory killings by ranchers. In this context, the study aims to analyze the environmental and economic parameters associated with the ecosystem services provided by jaguars. The ultimate goal is to develop a regional Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme to support jaguar conservation by promoting forest code compliance, maintaining habitat connectivity, and compensating cattle predation, using data from Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), Brazil. Our findings demonstrate the advantages of implementing such program and reveal that the cost of maintaining jaguar populations through a PES, with funds from several independent sources, would be feasible and important for one of the largest jaguar populations in Brazil.