Payments For Environmental Services Research Articles

Reflexões sobre o potencial desconhecido do pagamento por serviços ambientais como instrumento para a gestão de mananciais hídricos urbanos

Resumo Esta pesquisa busca analisar a potencialidade de sistemas de pagamentos por serviços ambientais (PSA) como um instrumento para a gestão de mananciais hídricos urbanos. A metodologia de pesquisa baseia-se essencialmente na elaboração de um cenário ideal com o PSA, buscando observar em que momento do tempo no processo de expansão urbana esse instrumento poderia ser aplicado de forma a contribuir para que o manancial não perdesse sua função essencial de fornecer água em quantidade e qualidade necessária à população. Conclui-se que o PSA pode ser um instrumento potencial para a gestão de mananciais hídricos urbanos, desde que seja adotado em sua concepção “holística” ou em conjunto com demais instrumentos que garantam a provisão de serviços ambientais relacionados aos recursos hídricos.

Payment For Environmental Service: An Application in Tourism in Vietnam

Payment for Environment/Ecosystem Services (PES) is a market-based approach toward the dual goal of poverty alleviation and forest conservation. In Vietnam, PES has been nationwide applied to the forest environment, namely Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES). Nevertheless, the PFES application in forest-based tourism is very limited. To enhance policy implementation in practice, this study analyses a case study in Sapa town, Vietnam. We find that the overlapping revenue of service providers is a substantial issue holding back PFES applications in tourism. Accordingly, we recommend two potential payers for tourism-PFES, including accommodation companies and ticketing companies (based on the revenue from entrance tickets). We then suggest a PFES payment level of 1 percent of total revenue from ticket sales and room charges. Moreover, the study also provides some recommendations to ensure the fairness and transparency in PES application, as well as factual, reflect of the nature of PFES during implementation.

Could PES Change the Agrarian Structure? a Lesson Learned of Citaman Village, Banten

This study aimed to analyze changes in the agrarian structure in Citaman Village, whether or not capitalists enters the formation of community land, after payment for Environmental Services (PES) mechanism is effective. This research relies on the constructivism paradigm, using qualitative method. The primary data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus groups discussion, with farmer groups, community leaders and related parties. Relevant secondary data was also collected. The results show that: First the PES program which has been running for more than 15 years, has not changed the agrarian structure significantly in Citaman Village. The agricultural land is still dominantly controlled and owned by Citaman Village residents. Second the changes that occurred as a PES program were found in the patterns of agricultural land use. Agricultural land that was originally used for upland rice cultivation or huma is now turned into an agroforestry area.

Determinants of participation in state and private PES projects in Uganda

Climate change mitigation can improve rural livelihoods through payment for environmental services (PES) approaches. However, participation in PES projects is voluntary, uncertain and some people's participation is more important than others. In this article, we use quantitative and qualitative methods to examine factors that determine local peoples’ participation in state (Rwoho and Kasagala) and private (‘Undisclosed’ and Hoima) forestry carbon projects in Uganda. We find that such determinants vary within and between projects. For example, older people with more land parcels were more likely to participate in private projects compared to their counterparts in state projects. In plantation forests, participation was motivated by access to forest products (timber and charcoal), while the desire to conserve water sources was important for participants adjacent to natural forests. While expected carbon payments were important in one state project, they were less significant in the others. Non-participation was linked to high entry costs, distrust for forest managers in state projects and non-ownership of natural forests. In all case studies, non-participation was mainly associated to limited project information. To gain broad participation, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) and other PES mechanisms must critically identify and consider community specific needs, expectations and concerns in their design and implementation. This requires willingness to diagnose community concerns and allow adjustments.

The impact of payment for forest environmental services (PFES) on community-level forest management in Vietnam

In Vietnam, the PFES program of payment for forest environmental services involves more than 100,000 forest right holders. Little is known about the impact of the program on the actual forest management activities by these actors. We used an open-ended self-reporting method in 21 villages in three provinces to characterize changes in forest management due to PFES, to assess levels of change (positive, no change, or negative), and to explore underlying motivations. The major changes identified occurred in the forest patrol groups, trespass and fire prevention, and the effectiveness of forest protection rules. Basically, all respondents reported a positive change in at least one of these features, and no negative change was reported. Respondents also highlighted that the payments and the clarification of boundaries were the main factors underlying this substantial impact. It must be borne in mind however that this success builds on effective forest law enforcement.

Borneo Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus habitat sustainability and its challenges

This study aims to evaluate the current condition of landscape sustainability and its challenges in Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus habitat in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. The results of such a study assist researchers, planners and policymakers to formulate direction of regional development policy with mainstream the concept of sustainability into development practice. For evaluating landscape sustainability, this study deployed assessment through sustainable landscape index that has six assessment indicators, which are expected to reflect economic, social and environmental sustainability. The indicators are land use benefit and regional economy as the representation of economic indicators, fairness of land utilization and poverty conditions as the representation of social indicators as well as environmental service protection and biodiversity conservation as the representation of environmental indicators. The study shows the sustainability in landscape level appears to be balanced among the six indicators of evaluation, but in further detail, it shows the unfair use of land utilization and gaps between sub-landscapes. There is high dominated land ownership by private groups in the landscape. The utilization gap is also found where in coastal and middle sub-landscapes are utilized more economic-oriented. Contrarily, the upstream is dominated by protection utilization. The paper recommends that government should be seriously considers the carrying capacity concept in land allocation and initiate payment for environmental services or other incentive mechanisms for upstream districts to conserve and protect the remaining forests.

REDD+ in Theory and Practice: How Lessons From Local Projects Can Inform Jurisdictional Approaches

Subnational projects for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) were frequently designed as pilot actions to inform future upscaled initiatives. Drawing lessons from these project experiences may thus help improve the design of jurisdictional-level actions. Here we scrutinize how REDD+ was historically conceptualized, the most prominent model being that of a multitier payments for environmental services (PES) scheme of ‘passing on’ carbon mitigation responsibilities and credits across scales, from international buyers to forestland owners. Using a database of 226 conservation-oriented REDD+ projects, in a principal component analysis we identify three main clusters: public, private-commercial, and NGO type of initiatives. Only 88 projects had planned conditional payments to landowners—the key feature of PES. Intentions to apply PES rise after 2007, and correlate strongly with efforts in seeking certification, including as a benefit-sharing strategy, and with carbon sales. Zooming closer into a portfolio of 23 implemented local REDD+ initiatives, we found project proponents reported conditional incentives as potentially being both the most promising and effective intervention. Likewise, treated households identify conditional incentives as comparatively effective in changing their land-use plans, while also providing above-average welfare returns. Still, these conditional incentives remained underutilized in implementation, with only one-third of the treatment intensity compared to non-conditional incentives. Only 39% of project proponents believed that conditional incentives would eventually become their single-most important tool, citing insecure land tenure impeding effective contracting of land stewards, and the REDD+ insecurity in financial flows jeopardizing longer-term contractual arrangements as key limitations. The original vision of a multitier PES model for REDD+ thus ran into both supply and demand side problems, jointly explaining the discrepancy between REDD+ theory and practice. Since jurisdictional climate approaches so far also receive only hesitant and slow climate financing flows, coming mostly in non-conditional form, and operate under forest-frontier governance with similar tenure restrictions, jurisdictions would seem well-advised to only rely significantly on conditional landowner incentives in scenarios where the preconditions for PES are met.

Potential for soil organic carbon sequestration in grasslands in East African countries: A review

AbstractGrasslands occupy almost half of the world's land area. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a key indicator of soil fertility and grassland productivity. Increasing SOC stocks (so‐called SOC sequestration) improves soil fertility and contributes to climate change mitigation by binding atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). Grasslands constitute about 70% of all agricultural land, but their potential for SOC sequestration is largely unknown. This review paper quantitatively summarizes observation‐based studies on the SOC sequestration potential of grasslands in six East African countries (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda) and seeks to identify knowledge gaps related to SOC sequestration potential in the region. In the studies reviewed, SOC stocks in grasslands range from 3 to 93 Mg C/ha in the upper 0.3 m of the soil profile, while SOC sequestration rate ranges from 0.1 to 3.1 Mg C ha‐1 year‐1 under different management strategies. Grazing management is reported to have a considerable impact on SOC sequestration rates, and grassland regeneration and protection are recommended as options to stimulate SOC sequestration. However, a very limited number of relevant studies are available (n = 23) and there is a need for fundamental information on SOC sequestration potential in the region. The effectiveness of potential incentive mechanisms, such as payments for environmental services, to foster uptake of SOC‐enhancing practices should also be assessed.

Payments for environmental service’s role in landscape connectivity

SummaryCreating landscapes with connectivity is vital for protecting biodiversity and meeting the environmental targets embedded in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with connectivity specifically mentioned in Target 11 of the Convention on Biological Diversity Aichi Targets. Costa Rica created the National Biological Corridor Program (NBCP) in 2006 to enhance connectivity among protected areas. Targeted investments of payments for environmental services (PES) are the main tools used within the designated biological corridors. We conducted spatially explicit analyses to determine whether Costa Rica’s NBCP, using PES, enhanced landscape connectivity within the Paso de las Nubes Biological Corridor. We conducted landscape modelling in order to determine the connectivity held within PES’s properties by developing connectivity resistance surfaces and electrical current models. The results indicate that PES properties established after the NBCP contributed more to areas with intermediate values of connectivity and less to areas with high connectivity values as compared to properties before the NBCP. Although overall connectivity within the corridor has decreased since NBCP establishment, our results confirm the importance of PES properties for landscape connectivity, but emphasize the need for spatially targeted PES in order to improve viable paths of landscape connectivity among protected areas. Future targeted PES investments could contribute greatly to meeting connectivity goals.

Estimativa da biomassa de cafeeiros em sistemas agroflorestais sob manejo orgânico e convencional em diferentes arranjos

Atualmente, os serviços ambientais relativos aos sistemas agroflorestais (SAFs) estão fundamentados em aspectos qualitativos. Entretanto, para que ocorra a consolidação do pagamentos por tais serviços, os diversos fatores que condicionam os SAFs necessitam ser caracterizados. Este estudo teve comoobjetivos analisar se o estoque de biomassa individual de cafeeiros é afetado porSAFs caracterizados por manejo e arranjos distintos dos cafeeiros arábica e das grevíleas, além de verificar se haveria possibilidade de ajuste de equações alométricas para estimar a biomassa seca dos cafeeiros.O experimento foi conduzido em sistemas de cultivo de café (Coffea arabica L.) sob manejo orgânico e convencional arborizado por grevíleas (Grevillea robusta A. Cunn.), localizados nas regiões do Planalto da Conquista e Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. A partir da determinação da biomassa pelo método destrutivo da simples separação, foram estabelecidas equações de estimativa do estoque de biomassa individual dos cafeeiros. Concluiu-se que o sistema de manejo orgânico e convencional são fatores de menor impacto para o acúmulo de biomassa e carbono em relação à fatores como a densidade de cafeeiros e o arranjo das grevíleas. O menor adensamento de cafeeiros é fator que determina a superioridade dos estoques de biomassa individual.A densidade de cafeeiros e arranjo das grevíleas são fatores que determinam modelos alométricos diferenciados para a estimativa de biomassa dos cafeeiros.

Between the Global Commodity Boom and Subnational State Capacities: Payment for Environmental Services to Fight Deforestation in Argentina

Does subnational state capacity stop deforestation? The commodity boom of the 2000s significantly expanded the agriculture frontier in most provinces of Argentina, with devastating effects on native forests. Interestingly, some of the subnational governments that presided over the commodities supercycle also sought to reform the forestry sector to reduce rampant deforestation, despite promoting and benefiting from agricultural expansion. A national program to protect native forests through payment for environmental services (PES) was created to be implemented in local districts. We argue that the success of new forest protections is contingent on the capacity of subnational governments to implement the law. In our study, we find that changes in provincial deforestation rates are explained by the interaction of state capacity, on one hand, and high land prices driven by commodity pressures, on the other. Our research carries implications for students and practitioners of forest PES. Our findings underscore the fundamental role subnational state governments play in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Avaliação de cenários econômicos hipotéticos para viabilizar o pagamento pelos serviços ambientais - PSA

O presente artigo organiza, avalia e discuti sobre cenários econômicos hipotéticos com objetivo de viabilizar o Pagamento pelos Serviços Ambientais – PSA providos pela bacia do ribeirão do Cipó, que é o manancial estratégico do Município de Poços de Caldas - MG. A organização e resultados deste estudo deu-se pela: (I) Avaliação dos aspectos conceituais, (II) Caracterização do uso e ocupação do solo que, dos 7.752 hectares de área da bacia hidrográfica: 30,2% mata nativa, 29,3% solo exposto, 23,8% cultivo de Eucalipto, 4,9% de água no reservatório e corpos d’água; (III) Avaliação da Disposição a Pagar - DAP onde, observou-se que 54% da população está disposta a pagar pelos serviços a um valor médio de R$ 6,43; (IV) simulação de cenários econômicos hipotéticos onde, os cenários (1) e (3) ficam abaixo do custo de oportunidade enquanto que os Cenários (2) e (4) apresentam uma atratividade para os proprietários a montante.

Payments for environmental services, gendered livelihoods and forest management in Vietnam: a feminist political ecology perspective

Economic approaches to combat environmental degradation and deforestation have resulted in development initiatives such as the Payment for Environmental Services program (PES). This study deals with the effects of PES on women's livelihoods in Thuong Lo commune, Central Vietnam. Employing a feminist political ecology perspective and adopting a qualitative approach, we analyze the gendered roles, responsibilities and effects of PES on local livelihoods. We found that the women in our study portrayed different preferences and knowledge in relation to PES, forest management and livelihoods. Women are often excluded in PES projects due to a range of various socio-cultural factors.Keywords: Payments for Environmental Services; forest management; gender; women's empowerment; livelihoods; Central Vietnam; Co Tu people

Pay, talk or ‘whip’ to conserve forests: Framed field experiments in Zambia

Abstract Despite many efforts to conserve tropical forests, high rates of deforestation and forest degradation continue, threatening the products and environmental services they supply. We conducted framed field experiments (FFEs) in Zambia to test, ex-ante, the impacts of different conservation policies: community forest management (CFM), command and control (CAC), and two versions of payments for environmental services (PES). Our FFEs mimicked how local dwellers use forests in real life. Relative to open access (OA), PES to individuals reduced harvest by 15 percentage points (pp) while CFM reduced harvest rates by 8 pp. We conjecture that free and easy-riding, combined with uncertainty on how others will reciprocate, dampens the positive effects of group-based PES. Impatience and risk-loving among participants significantly increased harvest rates while pro-social behavior (altruism) was associated with more pro-conservation. We conclude that conservation outcomes might be achieved by combinations of CFM and individual PES, by which individual households receive clear material benefits that compensate for their reduced forest use.

Assessing the Permanence of Land-Use Change Induced by Payments for Environmental Services: Evidence From Nicaragua

Gains achieved by conservation interventions such as payments for environmental services (PES) may be lost upon termination of the program, a problem known as permanence. However, there have been few efforts to evaluate the permanence of conservation results. This article examines the permanence of land-use changes induced by a short-term PES program implemented between 2003 and 2008 in Matiguás-Río Blanco, Nicaragua. Under this program, PES had induced substantial adoption of silvopastoral practices. To assess the long-term permanence of these changes, participants were resurveyed in 2012, 4 years after the last payment was made. We find that the land-use changes that had been induced by PES were broadly sustained in intervening years, with minor differences across specific practices and subgroups of participants. The patterns of change in the period after the PES program were completed to help us understand the reasons for the program’s success and rule out alternative explanations for the program’s success. Our results suggest that, at least in the case of productive land uses such as silvopastoral practices, PES programs can be effective at encouraging land owners to adopt environmentally beneficial practices and that the benefits will persist after payments cease.

Effect of Collective Action on Willingness to Accept (WTA) in Payment for Environmental Services in Northern Ghana

Effect of Collective Action on Willingness to Accept (WTA) in Payment for Environmental Services in Northern Ghana Evelyn D. Ahiale, PhD Abstract The use of payments for environmental service (PES) schemes as an alternative conservation and resource management tool is progressively becoming popular worldwide. Collective action in PES is receiving considerable attention as a way of reducing transaction costs of PES as well as influencing PES success. However, little is known about how collective action will influence the reward to participants. This paper examines the effect of collective action on smallholder farm households‟ willingness-to-accept (WTA) for soil and water conservation technologies, specifically soil and stone bunds, in northern Ghana. Using a hypothetical conservation plan, data were collected from a sample of smallholder farmers through stated choice experiment (CE) and contingent valuation (CV) methods. Bayesian estimation of the mixed logit and interval-data regression models were applied to the CE and CV data respectively to determine the effect of collective action on farmers‟ WTA. Estimates of collective action from both sets of data were found to significantly reduce farmers‟ WTA. For achieving cost effectiveness, careful inclusion of collective action in the design of payment for environmental service schemes in Ghana may offer a means to reduce the amount of reward payment made to resource managers for supplying environmental services (ES). Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jeds.v8n2a8

Sistemi di Pagamento per i Servizi Ecosistemici (PES): analisi della letteratura nazionale e internazionale

The payments for ecosystem services are innovative instruments based on the creation of market for goods and services provided by natural ecosystems to stimulate the offer of positive externalities. The aim of the present study was to analyze the scientific production on payments for ecosystem services - focusing on the forest sector - both at national and international level in the period 2005-2019. To that end, a literature review is conducted through three steps: (1) identification of publications in English on payments for ecosystem/environmental services using Scopus database; (2) identification of publications in Italian on payments for ecosystem/environmental services using Google Scholar and the databases of the main Italian forestry journals; (3) bibliometric analysis of the publications collected using a bibliometric network analysis and a textual analysis. The results of this study show a steady increase in the number of publications per year from 2005 to today, corresponding to an average number of 81.8 publications per year using the term “payments for ecosystem services” and 46.3 per year using the term “payments for environmental services”. Approximately 40% of total scientific production about this topic focuses on forests. The country with highest number of publications is the United States, while the member countries of the European Union have contributed to 25% of total scientific production. In addition, the results show a rich scientific production in Italian (47 publications corresponding to 3,1 publications per year), but the majority of these publications refers to these innovative market-based instruments to protect natural capital and ecosystem services without providing detailed information from the theoretical and practical point of view. In this context, it would be useful to increase the technical-scientific production in Italian (protocols, manuals, guidelines) with the aim of supporting forest managers in disseminating these market-based instruments in Italy

ANALYSIS OF FORESTS’ GENETIC VULNERABILITY AND ARGUMENTS TO REDUCE DEFORESTATION

Abstract Forests play an essential role in protecting natural resources such as soil, water and environmental services. The aims of the current study are to analyze definitions involving issues such as forest cover and its vulnerability, as well as to present arguments to help reducing deforestation. Solutions focused on mitigating tree vulnerability are herein presented, namely: genetic conservation and local creation of genetic databases on natural forests; pursuit of maximum genetic diversity to maintain reproduction index and avoid cloning effects; scientifically investigating how to help trees to adapt to environmental changes; use of genetic improvement and programs such as Payment for Environmental Services, Bolsa Floresta Program, Crop-Livestock-Forest Integration and ABC Program to reduce deforestation in tropical forests.

Definição de corredores ecológicos em espaços agrícolas abandonados para o Pagamento de Serviços Ambientais - Esperança do Sul/RS.

Esperança do Sul/RS possui uma estrutura fundiária de pequenas propriedades que foram colonizadas, principalmente por descendentes alemães, gerando intenso desmatamento e fragmentando as áreas da Mata Atlântica, com os fragmentos localizados em áreas íngremes e próximas aos cursos d’água. A partir do abandono do espaço rural, áreas antes cultiváveis estão sendo abandonadas, com uma mudança no uso e na ocupação da terra, onde lavouras e pastagens se tornam áreas de regeneração de mata, em estreita relação com os seus remanescentes. Como objetivo central da pesquisa, busca-se definir os corredores ecológicos que se formam com a conexão das áreas abandonadas e os fragmentos de mata. Além disso, propõem-se conceber como alternativa econômica aos produtores rurais no município, o Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais às áreas abandonadas que conectam os fragmentos, além daquelas que a estes se agregam. A metodologia consistiu na identificação dos fragmentos de mata, com a definição dos maiores fragmentos, posteriormente foram identificadas as áreas abandonadas que conectavam esses fragmentos ou aquelas que se agregavam aos maiores. Foram identificadas 113 áreas conectoras e 183 áreas agregadores, cerca de 66% das áreas abandonadas. A partir da conexão das áreas abandonadas com os maiores fragmentos, foi possível a definição de sete corredores ecológicos que possivelmente se estendem para além dos limites municipais, expandindo a área dos corredores.

Bio-currencies: an alternative to Payments for Environmental Services (PES)

In Colombia’s Amazon piedmont, the cattle industry is one of the most important productive activities (IGAC 2016) due to a high demand and to the sturdy infrastructure built upon it that satisfies ...