The ecological damage compensation for hydropower development based on trade-offs in river ecosystem services

Abstract

Hydropower development is a kind of trade-offs in river ecosystem services, while increasing provision services but reduce some regulation or supporting services. However, some ecosystem services we lost are difficult to recover and thus affect the regulated river and riparian ecosystems inevitably. In this context, an ecological compensation framework for damaged river in hydropower development was proposed based on the trade-off in river ecosystem services. And the accounting system for affected rivers was established based on river eco-service alteration, for the hydropower services cannot replace the lost services. Using the ecosystem services valuation methods, the trade-offs of river ecosystem services were quantified and illustrated by some hydropower projects in Lancang River, Yalung River and Min Chiang in China. According to the survey data, the annual compensation standard of per unit installed capacity in above cases may range from 27 to 206 RMB Yuan.