Territory and authority of water fund payments for ecosystem services in Ecuador's Andes

A 'water fund' is a model for watershed conservation that cities throughout Latin America are quickly adopting. Based upon the concept of Payments for Ecosystem Services, urban actors and international NGOs pay into a trust fund that finances conservation activities in rural communities existing in and around ecosystems important for water flowing downstream to cities. Ecosystems are inextricably tied to the landscape, so water funds seek to influence land use practices. However, the process of establishing control over land use activities within a targeted area is a challenge, particularly when these areas exist outside of the boundaries of state delineated protected areas and encompass diverse landscapes where people are living and working. Drawing upon an empirical case study from Ecuador, we use data from key informant interviews and archival documents to analyze how market actors and NGO alliances create authority and legitimacy for themselves to initiate the process of territorialization of a watershed premised on ecosystem services conservation. We demonstrate how urban market actors and NGO alliances create non-state authority for territorialization and bypass the political and economic instability of the state. However, we also show that the state itself may use this arrangement as a platform to exert power within territory