Payments For Ecosystem Services Research Articles

Willing or Not? Rural Residents’ Willingness to Pay for Ecosystem Conservation in Economically Underdeveloped Regions: A Case Study in China’s Qinling National Park

Implementing payments for ecosystem service (PES) programs in national parks has proven effective in balancing the conflicts between ecosystem conservation and economic development, achieving long-term sustainability. Residents’ participation and financial contributions are crucial prerequisites for establishing PES programs in national parks. Hence, it is necessary to investigate residents’ willingness to participate in and pay before its official operation in China’s Qinling National Park. By adopting a contingent valuation method, this study collects 1431 face-to-face, one-to-one questionnaire answers from rural residents in the region. The results show that 76.7% of the sample are willing to participate in the ecosystem conservation of Qinling National Park, although their willingness to pay is relatively low, with the average being RMB 136.5 (USD 20.3) per household per year. Moreover, informal institutions maintained by social trust continue to play an essential role in this rural area. Residents’ willingness to participate is positively influenced by their social trust, which includes both institutional and interpersonal trust. Additionally, their willingness to pay is positively affected by their household income and cultural preferences. Finally, residents’ occupation as farmers exhibits a negative moderating effect on the direct influence of their household income on their willingness to pay, while their education level positively moderates the impact of their cultural preferences on their willingness to pay.

Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services and Livelihoods on Non-Grain Agricultural Land Use

Non-grain agricultural land use (NGALU) could be an alternative to payments for ecosystem services (PES) to achieve ecosystem benefits, given their joint contribution to forest transition. Unraveling the correlation between PES and NGALU can enhance cost-effective decisions. While farmland abandonment and non-grain cash crops (NGCCs) plantation are two main manifestations of NGALU, previous studies have primarily assessed the effects of PES on farmland abandonment. Little is known about the effects of PES on NGCC planting. This study evaluated the effects of China’s two nationwide PES programs (i.e., the Grain to Green Program, GTGP, and the Ecological Welfare Forest Program, EWFP) on NGALU in the Black River Basin of Shaanxi province. The study found a wide adoption of NGALU, with 52% of households adopting NGALU. The total area of NGALU is more than half of the afforested area through the GTGP. A quarter of the NGALU area is abandoned farmland, while the remaining NGALU area is planted with NGCCs. The two PES programs did not have effects on NGCC planting, but reduced farmland abandonment. Engagement in labor migration and local non-farm employment increased NGALU, while livestock breeding and farmland area reduced NGALU. Furthermore, the large area and unfavorable geographical conditions of farmland parcels promoted NGALU. These results highlight the important implications of leveraging NGALU to boost ecological gains from conservation investments.

Impacts of rangeland ecological compensation on livelihood resilience of herdsmen: an empirical investigation in Qinghai Province, China

The increasing use of the payment for ecosystem services (PES) represents a prominent institutional shock triggered by external interventions on livelihoods of natural resource managers. To reconcile the needs for both conservation and development, a deep understanding on the influence mechanisms of PES on farmer livelihood resilience is paramount, particularly in dynamic and uncertain contexts. Taking the Rangeland Ecological Protection Subsidy and Reward scheme that has been implemented in pastoral China since 2011 as a case study, the paper empirically investigates the impacts of PES on livelihood resilience of livestock farmers in Qinghai Province. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of herder livelihood resilience from three dimensions—buffering, self-organizing and learning capacities, multiple linear regression was applied to examine the PES impacts. Resilience enhancement was mainly found in buffering capacity for herders with a medium to large herd size. Results of univariate parallel mediation models further reveal that household income growth and diversification and livestock upsizing were three key intermediary processes that mediated the enhancement and together contributed 28.83% of the total effect. The findings help narrow a knowledge gap in understanding whether, how and for whom PES contributes to improve farmer livelihood resilience. To achieve “win-win” outcomes, we stress that greater attention should be given to tailoring design and implementation of PES programs to align with the specificity of local contexts.

Mangrove community-based management in Eastern Africa: experiences from rural Mozambique

IntroductionThis study investigated a community-based management model in a mangrove-dependent community in central Mozambique and its adequacy as a management tool for conservation.MethodsSatellite images were used to map changes in mangrove cover between 1996 and 2017. Individual interviews and Focus Group Discussions were conducted with community members to understand the mangrove restoration processes and management models.Results and discussionAfter unsustainable exploitation that led to mangrove deforestation, the local community engaged in a restoration and management program that started in the late 1990s. Local norms were delineated by the Natural Resources Management Committee (NRMC) aiming at (1) reducing extractive uses by introducing alternative income generating activities; (2) awareness and mangrove planting and (3) law enforcement. Ten hectares of forest were rehabilitated. However, the management system fails to exclude illegal cutters and to enforce regulatory and sanctioning mechanisms, due to resource limitations. More involvement from government authorities and other stakeholders is needed to enhance law enforcement and explore opportunities for carbon trading, tourism and payment for ecosystem services. Additional recommendations are to develop a community management plan and create alternatives to mangrove products and income. Mangrove community-based management is increasingly advocated in many developing countries to promote sustainable utilization of resources and conservation. Understanding the reasons behind the limited success and lessons learnt at this site will guide similar programs elsewhere in Mozambique and other parts of the globe.

Analysis of forest environment transfer tax and prefectural policies: typology of prefectural support to municipalities in the initial phase from 2019 to 2021 in Japan

ABSTRACT The Forest Environment Transfer Tax (FETT), a scheme similar to Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), was introduced for Japanese forests at the national level in 2019 to address the challenges of climate change and promote management mainly in privately owned forests under the New Forest Management System (NFMS). Given insufficient human and financial resources, support by prefectures for municipalities is a key step forward, and we examined the policies of 47 prefectures. The study period is from 2019 to 2021. We conducted the following analysis: (1) categorization of prefectures by cluster analysis based on questionnaire surveys, and (2) quantitative analysis of the relationship between policy choices and characteristics of prefectures. Based on the analyses, we identified two typologies of prefectures based on policy selections and changes; (i) prefectures focused on specific policy items and (ii) those distributed the FETT budget relatively uniformly for each policy item, and further trends of changes based on temporal sequences in the early years of the scheme. The results suggest two further implications: geographical proximity among prefectures and the ratio of forestry production outputs among the overall outputs of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries may affect policy choices by prefectures, especially those of the former type of prefectures. The findings of this study can contribute to an understanding of the factors influencing policy choices in the context of PES-related schemes for forest management.

Tourism firms’ attitudes and willingness to contribute to payments for ecosystem services in tourism

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to contribute to the discussions of the role of tourism firms in maintaining important natural environments and cultural ecosystem services of a tourism destination. More precisely, this study explores the tourism firms’ attitudes and willingness to participate in safeguarding and maintaining cultural ecosystem services in a destination through a tourism-related local payments model, Landscape and Recreation Value Trade (LRVT), developed in the Ruka-Kuusamo area in Finland. Five main themes illustrating tourism firms’ attitudes towards LRVT and willingness to contribute to it were identified: benefits, concerns and challenges, implementation, characteristics of a firm, and need for raising awareness. Based on the findings many of the expressed benefits and challenges of LRVT originate from and are connected to evaluating the impacts on the competitiveness of the firm and the competitive advantages for the destination. The study brings insight into the planning, design, and implementation of voluntary tourism-related payment schemes for ecosystem services, and discusses their potential to enhance ecological conservation, support the local economy, and serve as an incentive for private firms to act in a more sustainable manner.

Agricultural subsidies: cutting into forest conservation?

AbstractWe examine how agricultural subsidies may induce deforestation and interact with conservation programs by analyzing two large-scale national programs in Mexico that have existed simultaneously for more than a decade: an agricultural subsidy for livestock (PROGAN) and a program of payments for ecosystem services (PES). Looking across the entire Mexican landscape, we exploit the surprises in the timing of enrollment in PROGAN's waves, fluctuations in program payments, and the change in the value of the subsidy induced by inflation and currency fluctuations to identify the impacts of the livestock subsidy on environmental outcomes. We find that PROGAN increased municipal deforestation by 7 per cent. The deforestation effects of PROGAN were smaller in municipalities with higher concentrations of PES recipients. We suggest that livestock subsidies could be better targeted to places with low deforestation risk and high livestock productivity to maximize food production and minimize negative externalities caused by deforestation.

Where, When, and How Much Should We Pay for Wind Erosion Prevention Services of the Largest Chinese Grassland Reserve?

The large-scale and cross-regional payment for ecosystem services (PES) contributes positively to ecology-economy balance and thus helps prevent environmental challenges such as "sand storm". However, existing PES programs often overlook the connection between service-providing areas (SPAs) and service-benefiting areas (SBAs). Here, we developed an interregional PES framework based on the theory of ecosystem services flow and applied it to the largest Chinese grassland nature reserve, Xilingol Prairie, to quantitatively identify SPAs, SBAs, and flow paths of the ecosystem wind erosion prevention service (WEPS). We showed that, from 2000 to 2020, the grassland ecosystem of Xilingol Prairie had brought an annual WEPS benefit of 1.21 × 108 t/a and economic value of 12.44 × 108 CNY/a, accounting for approximately 107.71% of the GDP in the same area and year and with a slightly increasing trend in most areas. We reveal obvious seasonal (over half in the spring) and interannual variations in the benefit and that Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and Northeast China are the most important beneficiaries of WEPS, rather than Beijing and Tianjin as traditionally thought. Our results warn that the WEPS supply capacity will not last long and call for finer spatial (e.g., among cities) and temporal (e.g., focus on the spring) resolution for PES policy design.

Spatially coordinated conservation auctions: A framed field experiment focusing on farmland wildlife conservation in China

AbstractHow best to incentivize land managers to achieve conservation goals in an economically and ecologically effective manner is a key policy question that has gained increased relevance from the setting of ambitious new global targets for biodiversity conservation. Conservation (reverse) auctions are a policy tool for improving the environmental performance of agriculture, which has become well‐established in the academic literature and in policy making in the US and Australia. However, little is known about the likely response of farmers to incentives within such an auction to (1) increase spatial connectivity and (2) encourage collective participation. This paper presents the first framed field experiment with farmers as participants that examines the effects of two features of conservation policy design: joint (collective) participation by farmers and the incentivization of spatial connectivity. The experiment employs farmers in China, a country making increasing use of payments for ecosystem services to achieve a range of environmental objectives. We investigate whether auction performance—both economic and ecological—can be improved by the introduction of agglomeration bonus and joint bidding bonus mechanisms. Our empirical results suggest that, compared to a baseline spatially coordinated conservation auction, the performance of an auction with an agglomeration bonus, a joint bidding bonus, or both, is inferior on two key metrics—the environmental benefits generated and cost effectiveness realized.

Exploring social-ecological system resilience in South China Karst: Quantification, interaction and policy implication

China’s Grain to Green Program (GTGP), which is one of the largest payments for ecosystem services (PES) in the world, has made significant ecological improvements to the environment. However, current understanding of its outcomes on the social-ecological system (SES) remains limited. Therefore, taking the South China Karst as an example, a SES resilience evaluation index system was constructed followed by an exploratory spatial analysis, root mean square error, and Self-Organizing Feature Map to clarify the spatiotemporal changes and relationship of SES resilience, achieve the zoning of SES resilience and provide restoration measures. The results showed an upward trend in social resilience from 2000 to 2020, especially its subsystem of social development. Regional ecological resilience was stable, owing to a slightly declined ecosystem services and increased landscape pattern. Spatially, nearly half of the counties exhibited a distribution mismatch in SES resilience. There was an obvious inverted U-shaped relationship of SES resilience, indicating a clear threshold effect, and the constraint relationship of SES resilience eased over time, demonstrating the effectiveness of the ecological restoration program. GTGP played a positive role in reducing regional SES trade-off, but this positive effect was limited, reflecting the limitations of overemphasizing the conversion from farmland to forest and grassland. Regional SES resilience can be divided into four clusters, which were the key optimization zone for social system, the SES resilience safety zone, the key restoration zone for SES resilience, and the key optimization zone for ecological system. Adaptive adjustments for the GTGP in these zones should be taken to achieve maximum SES benefits in the future.

Piper agroforestry in the Indian Himalayas: indigenous peoples’ practices, policies and incentives

BackgroundIndigenous populations across the world play a significant role in sustainable land management and conservation of biodiversity. However, indigenous agricultural practices are rarely studied in depth and remain poorly documented in many regions of the world. Documenting such practices and identifying policies and incentives that affect them can unlock their potential for better land management and biodiversity conservation.MethodsWe undertook household surveys and focus group discussions to document indigenous practices and the values of trees in Piper (Piper betle) agroforestry practiced by the ethnic Khasi (Pnar) community in the Indian Eastern Himalayas. We also undertook an in-depth vegetation sampling to quantify variations in phytosociology and tree diversity with stand age in Piper agroforestry and nearby native forests. In addition, we undertook strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis and a desk review to identify policies, market support structures and incentives affecting cultivation of Piper, a cash crop of global importance.ResultsUnlike in shifting cultivation, indigenous people do not fell trees in the Piper agroforestry; instead, they allow trees to regenerate naturally and also enrich by planting tree seedlings in the gaps. Depending on the stand age, 30–49 tree species were recorded in the Piper agroforestry compared to 39 in nearby natural forests. While tree density was higher in the natural forests, greater species richness, diversity and basal area was recorded in > 25 years old Piper agroforestry stands. However, landholders do not have legally transferable or heritable rights to the land or trees.ConclusionIt is concluded that the Piper agroforestry provides a pathway for averting land degradation due to shifting cultivation, biodiversity conservation and improving livelihoods of the indigenous community. Although existing policies are supportive, Piper agroforestry is not currently benefiting from incentives and market support structures. We recommend implementation of policies, market support structures, incentives and payment for ecosystem services so that indigenous communities can benefit from the global ecosystem services they provide.

Application of payments for ecosystem services and nexus modeling for agriculture land use management

Application of payments for ecosystem services and nexus modeling for agriculture land use management

Understanding the role of innovation systems in PES development: A survey of stakeholder perspectives

Water-related ecosystem services of forest land are essential for human well-being. Their provision is related to forest management practices that forest owners and managers apply. When these preferential management practices increase the operating costs, they should be paid/compensated by users of these services. The research focused on identifying the prerequisites of the innovation systems to support payments for ecosystem services (PES) in Slovakia. We analysed the structure, relationships, and functions of the innovation system as monetary and non-monetary incentives, cooperation support and risk mitigation. We collected data using a standardised questionnaire sent out to stakeholders from forestry, nature protection, water management and civil society. The data was processed with simple descriptive methods commonly used in social studies and survey data processing. The information about the potential supply and demand of water-related ecosystem services were obtained from forest owners and managers makes the PES development in the future more feasible. Results revealed that when developing PES schemes, the coordination of stakeholders should follow settled legislation rules at the national level, which still need to be included. Furthermore, the innovation system should provide mainly monetary incentives to providers of ecosystem services.

Realizing the value of grassland ecosystem services: global practice and its inspiration for the karst desertification control area

The conflict between grassland ecosystem conservation and economic development is an important but challenging question. Realizing the value of ecosystem services (ES) is considered to be a solution for the dual sustainability of ecology and economy. However, there is a lack of systematic understanding of value realization of grassland ES, especially in the karst desertification (KDC) area, which is still at an exploratory stage. We obtained 527 studies from 48 countries in the past 20 years through the Scopus database, and systematically reviewed the current understandings and practices by the content analysis method, and enlightened the inspiration for the grassland in the KDC area. Results showed that: (i) Over the past 20 years, the literature number showed a fluctuating growth trend, and the study areas are mainly concentrated in economically developed countries with rich grassland resources; (ii) Pathways such as grassland management and payment for ecosystem services (PES) are widely used to improve grassland ES and human well-being, and most studies have shown positive effects; (iii) Their performance is significantly impacted by stakeholders, governments, as well as the attributes of ES, and a path of government-led, stakeholder participation and market-oriented operation should be explored; and (iv) There are still some knowledge gaps, such as, uneven distribution of study areas, few effective pathways for realizing the public grassland ES value, and deficient linkage mechanisms of “grassland ES-industry development-economic system feedback-ecosystem protection,” and so on. Based on our findings, we not only make recommendations for the current dilemma of realizing the value of grassland ES, but also put forward the enlightenments to the grassland in the KDC area based on experiences and lessons learned from global practices. The results can provide theoretical guidance for the ecological protection and sustainable development of grasslands in fragile areas.

Valuing conservation and socio-environmental services on an Amazon frontier: the Extractive Reserves of the Terra do Meio

In the Brazilian Amazon, forest conservation has relied on the presence of 'traditional communities' and Indigenous peoples to secure legally demarcated protected areas from deforestation and biodiversity degradation. Facing pressures for land-use change from a rapidly encroaching frontier of resource extraction and commodity production, there is no guarantee that Indigenous peoples or traditional communities will continue to occupy these forests or continue to fulfill the role of forest protectors except under certain conditions. In this article, we detail the case of the extractive reserves of the Terra do Meio and consider what conditions would be needed for traditional communities to continue to occupy and protect protected areas. Employing an agrarian political ecology approach, we draw on years of ethnographic research in this area to argue that forest peasant livelihoods, which revolve around the forest areas of use, produce both ecological and cultural diversity in the forest. We term this socio-ecological arrangement the productive system of the colocação, the system and geographies of forest peasant livelihoods that upholds and is upheld by diverse socio-ecological relationships. Contemporary forest conservation regimes, however, have largely failed to incentivize and value these forest peasant livelihoods in ways that would sustain them in the face of commoditizing frontier pressures. Any mechanisms that pay for forest conservation should remunerate communities for their entire socio-ecological relationships, those relationships that are upheld through forest peasant livelihoods, not simply their products. We propose an approach to valuing forest communities' socio-environmental services, and we argue that such valuation would be more effective for conservation and cultural/ecological diversity than existing proposals for payments for ecosystem services (PES).

Economic valuation of selected ecosystem services in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Pakistan.

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is a mechanism where a consumer is able and ready to pay for the protection of the precise ecosystem service and there must be a provider such as local societies receiving an economic resource, who in return, must have the ability to maintain that ecosystem service. Economic valuation provides basis for payment for ecosystem services. Therefore, objective of this study was to evaluate tourism and carbon stock services of the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Pakistan. Two forest zones (Chirpine and Scrub) of Islamabad capital territory (ICT) were selected for estimation of carbon stock and their carbon credits and carbon worth, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted for tourism as a payment for ecosystem services. The method for carbon stock assessment was systematic sampling for Chirpine forest whereas random sampling was done for scrub forest. The size of sampling plot was 17.84 m radius, and a total of 93 plots (49 Scrub zone and 44 Chirpine zone) was taken in the study area. The carbon stock of both zones (Chirpine and Scrub zone) is 22556.75 ton/ha (Chirpine 20105.79, Scrub 2450.96) and total carbon dioxide sequestered by both zone is 82557.72 ton/ha (Chirpine 73587.2, Scrub 8970.52), total carbon credits of both zone is 302160.87 (Chirpine 269328.97, Scrub 32831.9) and the carbon worth of both Chirpine and scrub zone is 4532418.92 $ (Chirpine 4039937.09$, Scrub 492481.83$). Similarly, from tourism point of view, in Shakar Parian, 94% tourists were agreed for PES whereas 6% were disagreed for the PES (the 6% tourist were disagreed to contribute for PES, 40% were agreed for Rs.5 contribution and 54% for Rs.10.). moreover, in Lake view Park, 97% tourists were agreed and 3% are disagreed (In Lake View Park 5% tourists were disagreed for the PES contribution whereas 32% were agreed for Rs.5 and 63% were for Rs.10). In Damen e Koh, around 87% tourist were agreed and 13% were disagreed, (24% were agreed for the contribution of Rs.5 and 63% tourists were agreed for the contribution of Rs.10). In Marghazar Zoo, 93% tourists were agreed (22% were agreed for contribution of Rs.5 and 71% tourist were agreed for contribution of Rs.10) and 7% are disagreed for PES whereas 7% tourists were not agreed for contribution. PES may implement to compensate forest and parks manager to ensure better management of the forests and parks. Due to prime location and scenic beauty of the ICT, it has huge potential for implementation of PES mechanism for sustainable forest management and conservation. Therefore, it is recommended that Capital Development Authority (CDA) Islamabad should devise a plan for implementation of PES in forests and parks of ICT for its sustainable management of recreational and forest resources.

Effects of Payment for Ecosystem Services and Tourism on Conservation and Development: Trade-Off or Synergistic?

Abstract The effects of various strategies aimed at simultaneously promoting environmental conservation and human development are closely related to sustainable development regionally and globally. However, although the effects of many such strategies have been evaluated by ecologists and sociologists separately, their ability to simultaneously meet these two anticipated goals (i.e., environmental conservation and human development) at the fine spatial scale remains unclear. To answer this fundamental but crucial question, incorporating household and forest change data, we concurrently estimated the ecological and socioeconomic effects of two world-renowned Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs (i.e., the Nature Forest Conservation Program, the Grain to Green Program) and nature-based tourism in 30 protected areas across 8 provinces in China. Here we showed a trade-off between the ecological and economic effects of two PES programs, while synergistic effects exist in the ecological and economic benefits of tourism. Attributes of household and protected areas significantly influenced economic and environmental benefits as well. Our research provides new insights into the complex effects of PES programs and tourism, and crucial information to support their adequate and sustainable implementation in China and the rest of the world. Significance Statement This work answers a fundamental but crucial question, that is, whether the policies commonly advocated to incorporate environmental conservation and human development can yield positive effects both for conservation and economic development. Our evaluation is also timely to inform some shortness (i.e., negligible economic effects, or the lack of expected positive economic benefits) and provides new insights (e.g., the implication of households and protected-areas attributes in conservation and economic outcomes) of Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs and the complex effects of instruments in the context of multiple policies, particularly given the upcoming 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development goals (SDGs). We expected that implications in this study can provide important lessons for these two instruments, other PES programs, and other conservation and development instruments to support their adequate and sustainable implementation in China and beyond and to contribute to the achievement of relevant SDGs in the remaining years.

Payment for ecosystem services: the economy that will save natural environments?

Payment for ecosystem services: the economy that will save natural environments?

Payment or Incentive: Public Perception on Payment for Ecosystem Services at the Time of Climate Change in Nepal

Payment or Incentive: Public Perception on Payment for Ecosystem Services at the Time of Climate Change in Nepal

Alternatives for improving Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) effectiveness on water resources

Alternatives for improving Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) effectiveness on water resources