Value For Biodiversity Conservation Research Articles

Identification of Major Threats of Climate Change, Hazards, and Anthropogenic Activities on Biodiversity Conservation in the Buxa Tiger Reserve, India.

The Himalayan forests are facing a range of threats, which are making conservation efforts challenging. Using a mixed-method approach, this study investigated the threats to biodiversity conservation in Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), a fragile ecosystem in the Eastern Himalayan foothills. The study found that between 1990 and 2021, BTR experienced rising summer temperatures and decreasing annual precipitation, contributing to forest dryness, water scarcity, and forest fires. Natural disasters such as floods, flash floods, earthquakes, and landslides also caused significant damage to wildlife habitats. Changes in land use and land cover, including encroachment, infrastructure development, fuelwood collection, and grazing practices, were also identified as significant drivers of ecosystem alteration. Besides, hunting and poaching also emerged as threats to wildlife populations in the reserve. By employing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the study determined that land use change, infrastructure development, climate change, livestock grazing, and fuelwood collection pose significant threats to flora conservation outcomes in BTR, while infrastructure development, climate change, livestock grazing, and forest fires are the primary threats to wildlife conservation outcomes in the reserve. The study recommends the regulation of land use practices, promotion of sustainable livelihoods for local communities, effective conservation strategies, and public awareness and education programs to promote the value of biodiversity conservation.

The ecological and biodiversity conservation values of farm dams: A systematic review.

Biodiversity is in rapid decline globally with agriculture being one of the leading causes. Within agricultural landscapes, some features provide a benefit to biodiversity that is disproportionate to their spatial area. An interesting example is artificial ponds-or farm dams-which can support a large variety of taxa. Here, we present a global review of farm dam research related to biodiversity conservation objectives to provide an overview of the topics, key research insights, and the characteristics of current research. We used a three-stage process to screen literature and identified 104 relevant papers across 27 countries encompassing studies of 13 different taxa. Most of the studies were short-term (less than 5 years) with small sample sizes (less than 20 sites). Of the 104 papers, 88 were focussed primarily on ecological outcomes, such as species richness or abundance, and 15 on primary production outcomes, such as crop and livestock yield, despite addressing or measuring ecological metrics. Only one study measured both ecological and primary production outcomes. Studies frequently examined how the features of dams (79 studies) and attributes of the surrounding landscape (47 studies) impact particular species and communities. Terrestrial mammals (1 study) were under-represented in the literature with macrophytes (28 studies), macroinvertebrates (26 studies), and amphibians (19 studies) receiving the most attention. Our results reveal a growing trend towards recognizing farm dams as habitats for various taxa, including amphibians, beetles, dragonflies, and other macroinvertebrates within agricultural environments. Significant knowledge gaps exist in understanding how dam age, invasive species, and effective management practices impact the biodiversity conservation values of farm dams. Future research should emphasize enhancing biodiversity by collaborating with landholders to increase habitat through strategic vegetation planning, minimizing runoff and nutrient inflow, and restricting stock access.

A cost-effective approach to identify conservation priority for 30 × 30 biodiversity target on the premise of food security

There is a growing consensus on expanding protected and conserved areas for biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, it remains uncertain where to expand conserved areas as well as what appropriate management modalities to choose. Moreover, conserved areas expansion should be balanced with crop-related food security challenges. We developed a framework to identify cost-effective areas for expanding protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), and applied it to China. By combining templates for biodiversity conservation priorities at global scale and the priority conservation areas based on 2413 vertebrates' extinction risk in China, we identified areas with high biodiversity conservation value. We then categorized the priority areas according to human impact, indicating the potential cost of management. As a result of combining the two aspects above, we identified the most cost-effective areas for expanding protected areas and OECMs while excluding both the current and predicted croplands that can be used for food security. The results show that China could expand its protected areas to 22.81 % of the country's land area and establish OECMs in areas accounting for 9.82 % and 17.37 % of the country's land area in a cost-effective approach in two scenarios. In the ambitious scenario, protected and conserved areas would account for a maximum of 40.18 % of terrestrial area, with an average 62.67 % coverage of the 2413 species' suitable habitat. To achieve the goals of protected and conserved areas in Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries could apply this framework to identify their protected areas and OECM expansion priorities.

The conservation value of forests can be predicted at the scale of 1 hectare

To conserve biodiversity, it is imperative to maintain and restore sufficient amounts of functional habitat networks. Therefore, the location of the remaining forests with natural structures and processes over landscapes and large regions is a key objective. Here we integrated machine learning (Random Forest) and open landscape data to scan all forest landscapes in Sweden with a 1 ha spatial resolution with respect to the relative likelihood of hosting High Conservation Value Forests. Using independent spatial stand- and plot-level validation data, we confirmed that our predictions correctly represent different levels of forest naturalness, from degraded to those with high and associated biodiversity conservation values. Given ambitious national and international conservation objectives and increasingly intensive forestry, our model and the resulting wall-to-wall mapping fill an urgent gap for assessing the achievement of evidence-based conservation targets, spatial planning, and designing forest landscape restoration.

Plant distribution and conservation in mediterranean islands’ lentic wetlands: there is more than aquatic species

This study investigates the distribution and conservation status of plant species in lentic wetlands of Mediterranean islands. Field data on vascular macrophytes were collected from the online national databases of the “Conservation of the island wetlands of the Mediterranean Basin” (MedIsWet). A comprehensive inventory of wetlands was conducted, and information on the main anthropogenic impacts and conservation priorities was compiled. In addition to all vascular hygro- and hydrophytes, we retained information on those species typically adapted to environments with intermittent or temporary wetness. A significant knowledge gap regarding the distribution and conservation of plant species in Mediterranean wetlands was found. A lower endemism rate was observed particularly in coastal wetlands. However, approximately 25% of species, mainly with relatively wide distribution, were identified as endangered or with unknown conservation status. Including all macrophytes adapted to seasonal wetness is crucial when considering wetland conservation efforts. The research emphasised the importance of considering diverse wetland types, including seasonal and permanent, natural and artificial, for effective plant conservation. Artificial wetlands emerged as potential habitats with considerable biodiversity conservation value. This study provides a comprehensive inventory of wetlands and valuable insights into the distribution, ecology, and conservation relevance of aquatic macrophytes in Mediterranean islands. The research enhances our understanding of biogeographic patterns and processes, offers critical information for the management and conservation of Mediterranean island wetlands, and presents a replicable approach that can be applied to other wetland contexts.

Application of the Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis to assess the importance of deadwood characteristics for forest biodiversity

AbstractData acquisition for sustainable forest management has focused on obtaining high quality information to estimate biomass. Improving the quality of non-timber sustainability indicators, like deadwood volume, has been a minor interest. To explore how inventory approaches could be improved, we applied a Global Uncertainty and Sensitivity Analysis (GUSA) to evaluate which factors propagate more errors in deadwood modelling and how better data collection can minimize them. The impact of uncertainty on deadwood characteristics (diameter, collapse ratio, decay class, tree species, and position) was explored under stakeholders´ preferences, management actions, and climate change scenarios. GUSA showed that removing the prediction error in deadwood tree species and diameter would alter the most the total uncertainty in deadwood volume. We found that assessment of high deadwood volume was less uncertain for the scenarios where small deadwood items were left decaying on the forest floor (BAU) and for high-end climate change scenario (RCP8.5) which resulted in lower deadwood accumulation in forest stands and therefore also in lower likelihood of erroneous estimates. Reduced uncertainty in tree species and diameter class will elevate the certainty of deadwood volume to a similar level achieved in living biomass estimation. Our uncertainty and sensitivity analysis was successful in ranking factors propagating errors in estimate of deadwood and identified a strategy to minimize uncertainty in predicting deadwood characteristics. The estimation of uncertainty in deadwood levels under the scenarios developed in our study can help decision makers to evaluate risk of decreasing deadwood value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation.

Flagship events and biodiversity conservation

Flagship species are a highly effective approach in conservation. We propose the distinct but complementary concept of flagship events: natural or anthropogenic occurrences that attract public attention. Flagship events have high potential value for biodiversity conservation by engaging people with wildlife and helping to garner support for conservation efforts.

The optimal combination of pastoral activities and wildlife conservation in the Serengeti ecosystem

AbstractThere is competition for land between Maasai pastoralists and the park agency in the Serengeti ecosystem. The park agency wants to use the land for wildlife conservation while the pastoralist community wants to use it for livestock grazing. Predatory wildlife kills livestock while herbivorous wildlife competes with livestock for water and grazing. In retaliation, the Maasai hunt predators and grazers to protect their livestock and also to supply the black market for wildlife products. With both the Maasai and animal populations growing, increased conflicts are inevitable. This paper develops a bioeconomic model with three animal species to analyse the optimal combination of pastoral activities and wildlife conservation in the Serengeti ecosystem. Using Pontryagin's maximum principle, the market problem for each agent is optimized and compared to the social planner's outcome. Results show that the market solutions are suboptimal because of negative externalities affecting both agents and inadequate regard to biodiversity conservation values. Mathematical simulations of the bioeconomic model are used to generate a solution in which the Maasai pastoralists and park agency can optimally share the land for their mutual benefit. The policy implication is that the government should establish an independent regulatory institution with a primary mandate of balancing the contested socioeconomic and ecological needs of stakeholders in prime ecosystems such as the Serengeti.

Factors influencing the distribution of woody plants in tropical karst hills, south China.

The seasonal rainforests distributed across the tropical karst hills of south China are of high biodiversity conservation value and serve many important ecosystem functions. However, knowledge surrounding distribution patterns of woody plants in tropical karst hills remains limited. In this study, we surveyed the distribution of families, genera and species of woody flora at four slope positions (depression, lower slope, middle slope, and upper slope), and analyzed the influence of topographic and soil variables on the distribution of woody plants in the tropical karst hills of south China. Forty forest plots (each 20 m × 20 m) contained 306 species of woody plants with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥1 cm, representing 187 genera and 66 families. As slope increased, the number of families increased slowly, and the number of genera and species followed a concave-shaped trend, with the lowest number of genera and species in the lower slope position. Differences in species composition were significantly stronger between slope positions than within slope positions. The topographic and soil variables explained 22.4% and 19.6%, respectively, of the distribution of woody plants, with slope position, slope degree, soil potassium and soil water content as the most significant variables. The results of generalized linear mixed model analysis showed that total R2 of fixed effects on variation of woody species richness was 0.498, and rock outcrop rate and soil total phosphorus were the best fitting effects. Our results help to explain the community assembly mechanism and to inform management and protection strategies for species-rich seasonal rainforests in the karst area.

Biodiversity conservation and ecological value of protected areas: a review of current situation and future prospects

The establishment of protected areas (PAs) is an effective way to biodiversity conservation while maintaining the multiple functions of ecosystem services. However, there is still a lack of comprehensive analysis on the relationship between PAs, biodiversity conservation, and ecological value in the field of research on prospects. Therefore, based on the research progress of literature content, this paper systematically reviews and evaluates domestic and international studies in terms of the biodiversity conservation and the ecological value of PAs. The results showed that relevant studies in recent years have mainly analyzed the spatial layout, area changes and conservation effectiveness of PAs in relation to biodiversity; By constructing the connotation system of ecological value concept of PAs, the research progress of ecological value accounting, ecological value realization and transformation, and ecological value types of PAs is further discussed, and the prospects of biodiversity conservation and ecological value research of PAs is proposed. This study provides a reference for the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the construction and optimization of PAs system.

Ecotourism Potential: A Bibliometric Review

Ecotourism potential is a fundamental research effort needed to promote sustainable regional tourism development, and scholars have paid greater attention to it in recent years, which has led to an increase in the publication of literature on this important and widely recognized topic. However, there is still no clear picture of the development direction of research on ecotourism potential. To address this issue, this study attempts to provide a comprehensive analysis of the existing research state in this field. This paper presents a more detailed review of ecotourism potential, a bibliometric analysis of 949 articles selected from 1,027 publications retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection database, and a systematic descriptive and network analysis of the bibliometric data using the Biblioshiny tool. Here are some interesting findings: (1) research on the ecotourism potential in the academy started in 1992, with a rapid growth in the number of publications after 2013, with an overall interdisciplinary character and the emergence of a research community represented by Milcu, Balmford, Gallagher, and others; (2) ecotourism, conservation, tourism, management, and biodiversity are high-frequency keywords in this field, revealing the main research directions; (3) the development and evolution of research focus are mainly on three aspects: wildlife and biodiversity conservation, nature-based tourism and environmental values, and the modes and contributions of community participation. Future research should focus on the scientific references of ecotourism potential for promoting regional sustainable development. This paper sheds some light on the comprehensive bibliometric studies on ecotourism potential and improves our understanding of the evolution of this academic discourse theme over the last three decades.

Estimating the visitor’s willingness to pay towards biodiversity conservation at Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park, Malaysia, using the Contingent Valuation Method

Abstract. Musa F, Shahrudin INM. 2023. Estimating the visitor’s willingness to pay towards biodiversity conservation at Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park, Malaysia, using the Contingent Valuation Method. Biodiversitas 24: 3690-3699. The Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park is within the Bukit Nanas Forest Reserve, Malaysia's oldest and most biodiverse hill dipterocarp forest. The destruction of urban greenery in the heart of Kuala Lumpur has prompted stakeholders to conserve this forest as urban ecotourism areas for recreational, educational, and research activities. Due to the absence of a market, the economic value of biodiversity cannot be quantified in monetary terms from an economic perspective. Therefore, it will be difficult for stakeholders to justify the cost of conservation in their management in the future. This study's objective was to determine the economic value of biodiversity conservation at Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park by determining a visitor's Willingness to Pay (WTP) using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). A total of 250 questionnaires were distributed randomly to both international and domestic tourists to conduct this study. Five bid prices were chosen for domestic and international visitors based on the Logit Model's estimation of the visitor's WTP for biodiversity conservation. This study indicates that most visitors are willing to pay for biodiversity conservation influenced by religion, marital status, income, employment, and education. Furthermore, the results indicate that the WTP's mean and median per visit are MYR3.81 and MYR2.58 based on domestic visitor data. Consequently, this research may aid decision-makers in managing the financial strategy for biodiversity conservation activities. Thus, the conservation fee that visitors can accept based on their willingness to pay will further boost visitors' future visits to the Kuala Lumpur Forest Eco Park.

Leveraging private lands to meet 2030 biodiversity targets in the United States

AbstractCoincident with international movements to protect 30% of land and sea over the next decade (“30×30”), the United States has committed to more than doubling its current protected land area by 2030. While publicly owned and managed protected areas have been the cornerstone of area‐based conservation over the past century, such lands are costly to establish and have limited capacity to protect areas of the highest value for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation. Here we examine the current and potential contributions of private land for reaching 30×30 conservation targets at both federal and state scales in the United States. We find that compared to publicly owned and managed protected lands, protected private lands (conservation easements) are more often in areas designated as high conservation priority, hold significantly higher mean species richness, and sequester more vulnerable land‐based carbon per unit area. These and related findings highlight the necessity of mechanisms that engage private landholders in enduring conservation partnerships.

Biodiversity surveys of grassland and coastal habitats in 2021 as a documentation of pre-war status in southern Ukraine.

This paper presents two sampling-event datasets with occurrences of vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens collected in May-June 2021 in southern Ukraine. We aimed to collect high-quality biodiversity data in an understudied region and contribute it to international databases and networks. The study was carried out during the 15th Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) Field Workshop in southern Ukraine and the Dark Diversity Network (DarkDivNet) sampling in the Kamianska Sich National Nature Park. By chance, these datasets were collected shortly before the major escalation of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Surveyed areas in Kherson and Mykolaiv Regions, including established monitoring plots, were severely affected by military actions in 2022. Therefore, collected data are of significant value in the context of biodiversity documentation. The knowledge about the biodiversity of this area will help to assess the environmental impact of the war and plan restoration of the damaged or destroyed habitats. The first preliminary analysis of collected data demonstrates the biodiversity richness and conservation value of studied grassland habitats. We provide sampling-event datasets with 7467 occurrences, which represent 708 taxa (vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens) collected in 275 vegetation relevés. Amongst them, vascular plants are represented by 6665 occurrences (610 taxa), lichens - 420 (46) and bryophytes - 381 (51). Several new species were reported for the first time at the national or regional level. In particular, one vascular plant species (Torilispseudonodosa) and two lichen species (Cladoniaconista, Endocarponloscosii) were new to Ukraine. One vascular plant (Stipatirsa), two species of bryophytes (Rhynchostegiummegapolitanum, Ptychostomumtorquescens) and three species of lichens (Cladoniacervicornis, C.symphycarpa, Involucropyreniumbreussi) were recorded for the first time for the Kherson Region. Additionally, these datasets contain occurrences of taxa with narrow distribution, specialists of rare habitat types and, therefore, represented by a low number of occurrences in relevant biodiversity databases and particularly in GBIF. This publication highlights the diversity of natural vegetation and its flora in southern Ukraine and raises conservation concerns.

Quarry ponds are hotspots of amphibian species richness

Amphibians are among the most severely declining taxonomic group worldwide. Recent studies have shown that quarries may have a high conservation value for biodiversity conservation. However, well-replicated research on the importance of quarry ponds for amphibian assemblages has been scarce thus far. The aim of this study was to compare the environmental conditions and composition of amphibian assemblages of 15 randomly selected quarry ponds with those of 15 control ponds in the surrounding landscape. For each pond, we assessed several parameters of habitat and landscape quality. The effects of environmental conditions on overall species richness and number of threatened species were analysed using Generalized Linear Mixed-effects Models. Our study revealed strong differences in habitat quality and composition of amphibian assemblages between quarry and control ponds. In particular, a larger area of the semi-aquatic zone, a longer sunshine duration and the absence of fish were typical of quarry ponds, whereas a taller vegetation at the shoreline characterized control ponds. As a result, overall species richness and number of threatened species were higher in quarry ponds compared with control ponds. Overall, quarry ponds had a higher habitat quality than control ponds. In particular, (i) the large area of sunlit and warm microhabitats and (ii) the absence of fish predators favoured species richness of amphibians at the quarry ponds. Consequently, quarry ponds —thanks to their early-successional stages—have a high conservation value for amphibians.

Prediction of wetland biodiversity pattern under the current land-use mode and wetland sustainable management in Sanjiang Plain, China

Wetland destruction and degradation have been increasing gradually. The biodiversity of the remaining wetlands is under unprecedented threat. Identifying the future trend of wetland biodiversity is a critical step to provide early warnings for wetland biodiversity protection and management. However, studies have focused mainly on the current biodiversity assessment and protection, without emphasizing on the prediction of future changes. Combining the advantages of the key indicators of wetland biodiversity simulation (wetland pattern and hydrological connectivity; PHC) and CA_Markov of land use prediction, this study proposes a prediction framework for wetland biodiversity. Taking Sanjiang Plain as an example, this study predicted the changing trend of wetland biodiversity in the study area and evaluated the potential loss of wetland biodiversity in each reserve. The results revealed that the cultivated land occupation mainly caused the change in the spatial patterns of wetland biodiversity in the study area. According to the land use development trend from 2010 to 2015, the indexes of wetland PHC in the study area will decline significantly from 2020 to 2030, and the wetland biodiversity predicted by our framework will be transformed from the medium to the low level (the biodiversity conservation value will decrease 7.40% on average, with the wetland area reduced by 2.74%). Each reserve in the study area will experience various degrees of degradation in biodiversity due to the decrease in hydrological connectivity. The framework of wetland biodiversity prediction proposed in this study can provide technical support for predicting the changing trend in wetland biodiversity at the regional scale and a reference for long-term protection and monitoring strategies of wetland biodiversity at the reserve scale as an early warning.

Occurrence and diversity of poisonous plants in urban community gardens

Abstract Urban community gardens promote human health, offer recreational space and support urban biodiversity. Urban gardens are situated in diverse landscape contexts and have diverse social contexts with gardeners of various horticultural experiences and backgrounds, both of which results in the wide plant species variety of urban garden habitats. These plants represent a range of traits, one of which may be the production of substances that are poisonous to humans. These plants may also be of ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation value, creating an ecosystem service trade-off of human health promotion. In this paper, we report on the occurrence of poisonous plant species in 30 urban community gardens in two German cities (Berlin, Munich) and discuss potential concerns around poisonous and highly poisonous plants in urban gardens. We conclude that, depending on the garden participants as well as the goals of the garden organization, poisonous plants should be carefully monitored and managed to dually mitigate health risks while supporting biodiversity conservation. We propose possible strategies to manage potential threats posed by these plants while simultaneously allowing them to reside alongside people in urban gardens.

Conservation in conversation: People's perspectives on a woodland with high conservation value—A qualitative study

Abstract Concepts such as ecosystem services and nature's contributions to people are frameworks for articulating the value of nature and biodiversity conservation. Yet it remains difficult to argue for the conservation of species and habitats where they are inconspicuous or ‘non‐charismatic’. This paper investigates the perceptions of a woodland area in rural western Scotland, designated for its high conservation value and characterised by habitats, rare species and species assemblages with limited appreciation by non‐experts and no obvious ‘utility’ value. Based on interviews with residents and visitors as well as workshops with participants representing different types of local expertise, we show how people experience and perceive the benefits from such woodlands. Overall, our study participants emphasised values and ecosystem services that benefitted humans, strongly drawing on stories of cultural or historical land use to argue for more material opportunities to be created. For those participants without ecological expertise, the designated conservation value, albeit respected and accepted, remained vague and bland. Participants also articulated a strong underlying development logic, pushing in some way for ‘more’ to be made from the woodlands so that more people could receive benefits from the woodland either directly (e.g. mental restoration; increased use for recreation) or indirectly (e.g. through creating jobs in the local tourism industry). Our findings suggest that managing for conservation alone might cause challenges in acceptability, especially where the species and habitats conserved are of little obvious value to the non‐specialist. At the same time, participants recognised that they valued the woodland being unique in some way, and that increasing the material use of the woods might harm the very essence of what made it special. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Prioritizing sites for terrestrial invasive alien plant management in urban ecosystems

Abstract Rapid urbanization is placing increased pressure on natural, restored and designed ecosystems to provide services to growing human populations. The establishment and spread of invasive alien species within and around urban areas threaten biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and the services they provide. Consequently, there is a need to protect and manage areas where invasions will have the greatest socio‐ecological impact. Limited resources call for the strategic prioritization of these areas, yet there are few widely adopted, standardized approaches for prioritizing sites vulnerable to species invasions in urban areas. We applied multi‐criteria decision analyses in a geographic information system to develop a strategic, spatial prioritization approach for identifying those sites most sensitive to terrestrial alien plant invasions. To test this approach, we use the Toronto region as a case study, the most populous metropolitan area in Canada and one of the fastest growing urban centres in North America. Through consultation with local conservation authorities, we developed an objective, hierarchical set of 19 criteria grouped into two categories: biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, and ecosystem services. Spatial data layers were assigned to each criterion and used to map areas most important for biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and providing ecosystem services. We overlayed these priority areas with distribution data of Vincetoxicum rossicum, one of the Toronto region's most widespread and damaging invasive alien plant species (IAPs) to determine the potential threat species’ invasions pose to these important areas. High‐priority sites identified by our prioritization model include areas of significant biodiversity conservation value such as intact forests, meadows and wetlands which are crucial for providing regulating and supporting services. Our IAPs distribution map showed that these high‐priority sites are heavily invaded (92.9% of the area occupied by V. rossicum comprises medium‐high‐priority sites) and should be prioritized for management to ensure biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the provision of ecosystem services are maximized. The approach applied in this study can be useful for conservation practitioners in guiding the selection of high‐priority, socio‐ecologically significant sites for management action in urban landscapes across different geographic regions and spatial scales.

Fostering Ecosystem Services for Mitigating Climate Change and Sustaining Food Production Systems in Developing Economies

Among the greatest challenges of the 21st century is maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESs) to sustainably feed the projected 9–10 billion people of the world by 2050. Presently, incentives to preserve ESs in developing economies are limited, implying that there are no direct market mechanisms to signal the scarcity or degradation of a service until it fails. ESs are public goods with no direct owners. Hence, payment for ecosystem services (PES) is a voluntary transaction that aims at filling this gap by creating a new market for services, including carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, watershed protection and landscape values. Emerging PES has challenged the culture of natural resource depletion without consideration of sustainability. Sustainability is core of climate change vortex, and developing economies are worst hit. Food insecurity and failing agricultural systems will further endanger the fragile balance of life in the region. Until the right approaches to de-risking ecosystem sustainability emerge, the perpetrators of climate change will keep getting away with the harmful effects to our corporate existence. This treatise critically examined how ESs can foster sustainable food production given their holistic inter-relatedness to the subject of climate change mitigation, in the light of global development goals.