PLACE OF ECOSYSTEM PAYMENTS IN THE STRUCTURE OF ECONOMIC MECHANISM OF NATURAL RESOURCES USE

Abstract

Development and implementation of the ecosystem payments conception into the academician framework aims to promote and applicate ecosystem approach into the natural resources management and provide their rational use and biodiversity’s conservation. In the paper the author defines ecosystem payments, substantiates their importance, place and role for the current economic mechanism of environmental policy in Ukraine. She proves further transformation of the mechanism should follow introduction of the ecosystem approach, application of relevant tools and support to agencies facilitating ecosystem payments. Ecosystem payments as an instrument of the economic mechanism of nature management comprise all payments concurrent with the ecosystem approach framework. The payments have been designed to protect and preserve ecosystems, provide rational use of their resources and increase their capacity. The payments include fees for use of ecosystem resources and services, subsidies for the non-use, and costs necessary to restore contaminated or depleted ecosystems. Consequently, ecosystem payments are either obligatory (taxes for use of ecosystem resources, their contamination, exhaustion or degradation), or compensatory (reimbursement for use of ecosystems, subsidies for the non-use, and grants for introduction of better practices), or voluntary (for ecosystem services). Payments for ecosystem services assume an agreement between a user and a supplier should be assigned, a supplier owns the services or has the right to supply them, the market of ecosystem services operates, and methods to estimate the value of ecosystem services is approved. In Ukraine economic mechanism of the nature management is based on the user pay principle and several instruments of financing environmental programs. So the identification of ecosystem payments with payments for ecosystem services considerably cuts down benefits from introduction of the ecosystem approach into the nature management. Further supplement of the nature management mechanism with ecosystem payments requires administrative, regulatory, financial, information and analytical tools, which should be appropriately modified and being well compatible.