Eduardo Pacay is a forest engineer and holds an MSc in Environmental Socioeconomics from the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica. He is currently a doctoral researcher at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), in the field of study Economics of sustainable landscapes, where he is part of the research group “MOTION-CB: Modelling Interactions for Sustainable Land Use Transformation – Climate Change and Biodiversity”, conducting economic analyses of climate change adaptation measures in land use using choice experiment methods.

Eduardo has more than 10 years of experience in applied research and development projects in agriculture, forest conservation, water resources, and sustainable development in various Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Main research interests:

1. Impact evaluation of policies and programs related to forests and water resources.
2. Economic valuation of ecosystem services.
3. Financial and economic analysis of investments in agriculture and water resources.

Experience in development projects and consultancy:

1. Climate finance for adaptation, with an emphasis on Nature-based Solutions (NbS)
2. Design and analysis of innovative mechanisms such as payments for ecosystem services, water funds, carbon credits, and green financing schemes.

Before joining BTU, he worked as a researcher in the Environmental Economics and Agribusiness Unit at CATIE and as a consultant for multilateral organizations and international cooperation agencies. At the beginning of his professional career, he also worked with indigenous communities in Guatemala, providing technical assistance for natural resource conservation and on sustainable agriculture and forestry projects.

Peer reviewed publications

• Madrigal-Ballestero, R., Mullan, K., Pacay, E., Pattanayak, S. K., Robalino, J., & Evia, P. (2024). Volumetric pricing in rural Central America: drivers of adoption and potential effects on water delivery. World Development Sustainability, 100163.

• Viguera, B., Madrigal-Ballestero, R., Pacay, E., & Chacón, G. N. (2024). Alternatives for improving Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) effectiveness on water resources. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 79(1), 5A-9A.

• Piaggio, M., Guzman, M., Pacay, E., Robalino, J., Taylor, R. Forest Cover and Dengue in Costa Rica: Panel Data Analysis of the Effects of Forest Cover Change on Hospital Admissions and Outbreaks. Environ Resource Econ 87, 2095–2114 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-024-00853-2

• Vélez, M. A., Robalino, J., Cárdenas, J. C., Paz, A., & Pacay, E. (2020). Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region. World Development, 128, 104837.

Technical reports and other publications:

• Pacay, E., Madrigal, R., Carrera, F. (2025). Cost-benefit analysis of water harvesting works from the private perspective in Nicaragua. Turrialba, Costa Rica, CATIE. 38 p. (Technical series. Technical Report / CATIE, no. 464).

• Pacay, E., Madrigal, R., Evia, P. (2023).  Evidence of the integration of the "Ecosystem-based Adaptation" -EbA approach in financial and commercial insurance products. EbA LAC Program. San José, Costa Rica. 64 pages (Technical report).

• Castellanos, E., Lemos, M., Astigarraga, L.,... Pacay, E. (2022). IPCC WGII Sixth Assessment Report - Chapter 12: Central and South America. Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability - Working Group II contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangePublisher: Cambridge University Press.

• Alpízar, F., Madrigal, R., Alvarado, I., Brenes, E., Camhi, A., Maldonado, J., Marco, J., Martínez, A., Pacay, E., Watson, G. (2020). Mainstreaming of Natural Capital and Biodiversity into Planning and Decision-Making: Cases from Latin America and the Caribbean. Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0002667

• Alpízar, F., Piaggio, M., Pacay, E. (2017). Economic valuation of the reduction of air pollution in health: the case of the Greater Metropolitan Area of Costa Rica. Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

• Imbach, P., Robalino, J., Zamora, J.C., Brenes, C., Sandoval, C., Pacay, E., Cifuentes-Jara, M., Labbate, G. (2016). Scenarios of Future Deforestation in Paraguay. United Nations Environment Programme-REDD.