A conference paper from the “Economics and Conservation in the Tropics: A Strategic Dialogue” conference, January 31 – February 1, 2008.
PES is an attractive conservation tool, both as a supply-side innovation and as an integrated financing tool. The economic preconditions for PES (win-lose/lose-win scenarios with favorable WTP/WTA ratios) are widespread, and cultural obstacles can most frequently be overcome. If we were to scale up PES from their current early development stage, the institutional and informational bottlenecks would be more severe: insecure land rights, lack of trusts, free-riding service users, and high transaction costs. What can be done to ease these constraints?
In self-organized schemes, e.g., single watershed deals in developing countries, donors can help by subsidizing high start-up costs under the rationale that these PES appear to be costeffective and sustainable once up and running. Rapid biophysical assessment methods (e.g., for watershed protection and carbon sequestration) can reduce the high costs of setting baselines. In the social-science sphere, directly replicating models of negotiation and design (e.g., for communities and smallholders) can also reduce costs and enhance trust building. In some cases, land-tenure consolidation can help, while in others it is too costly or difficult, thus making PES non-viable. Self-organized schemes are important for local environmental management (e.g., watersheds or ecotourism) and as pilots for our continuous PES learning and adaptation.
Necessary Conditions for Ecosystem Service Payments
Year: 2008
