scholarly journals No pay, no care? A case study exploring motivations for participation in payments for ecosystem services in Uganda

Oryx ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Fisher
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Ethic ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Conservation Action ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Profitability Analysis ◽  
Existence Values ◽  
Western Uganda

AbstractA key question in the literature on payments for ecosystem services (PES) is how payments incentivize conservation action and, in particular, how they interact with other motivations, including motivations for environmental stewardship. Related to this question are concerns about the temporal sustainability of PES: what happens when payments cease and whether a ‘no pay, no care’ environmental ethic is fostered. I present empirical research from a case study in western Uganda, where forest-adjacent communities are paid in exchange for planting trees on private lands, for carbon sequestration. The study demonstrates the range of values people have for trees in the landscape and the range of motivations for participating in PES schemes. However, the analysis shows that payments are clearly the main motivation for involvement, except in one area where people are more motivated by aesthetic and existence values for trees. Given the widespread importance of money in motivating involvement, I investigate the profitability of participation over time. This profitability analysis, in combination with qualitative data on perceptions of, and plans for, the future, contributes to understanding the temporal sustainability of PES. I draw on various strands of evidence to argue that the way participants prioritize payments may constitute a threat to the long-term maintenance of PES activities, particularly in situations such as in this case study, in which there is a mismatch between payments and contract length.

scholarly journals Asset-building payments for ecosystem services: assessing landowner perceptions of reforestation incentives in Lebanon

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. e012
Author(s):  
Arbi J. Sarkissian ◽  
Robert M. Brook ◽  
Salma N. Talhouk ◽  
Neal J. Hockley
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Private Land ◽  
Willingness To Participate ◽  
Private Lands ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative Methods ◽  
Legal Implications ◽  
Study Participants

Aim of study: Incentivising landowners to supply ecosystem services remains challenging, especially when this requires long-term investments such as reforestation. We investigated how landowners perceive, and would respond to, distinct types of incentives for planting diverse native trees on private lands in Lebanon. Our aim was to understand landowners’ attitudes towards hypothetical Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) contracts options; their likely participation; and the potential additionality they would provide. Area of study: Highland villages situated within eight of Lebanon’s 20 Important Plant Areas Materials and methods: Mixed-methods surveys were conducted with 34 landowners to determine past, present and future land-use strategies. Study participants were presented with three differently structured reforestation contract options (or schemes). The three schemes (results-based loan, action-based grant, and results-based payments) differed in their expected risks and benefits to landowners. Qualitative debriefing questions followed each of the schemes presented. Main results: Although the results-based loan did deter uptake relative to the lower risk action-based grant, results-based payments did not significantly increase uptake or planting area, suggesting asymmetric attitudes to risk. Qualitative probing revealed economic, social (e.g. trust) and institutional factors (e.g. legal implications of planting forest trees on private land) that limited willingness to participate in the results-based contract option. Research highlights: This study demonstrates the importance of combining qualitative and quantitative methods to better understand landowner perceptions of incentives and risks, particularly in challenging socio-political contexts.

scholarly journals Afforesting Icelandic land: a promising approach for climate smart forestry?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanislava Brnkalakova ◽  
Jan Svetlik ◽  
Sigríður Júlía Brynleifsdóttir ◽  
Arnór Snorrason ◽  
Viera Baštáková ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Social Values ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
European Policy ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Forest Ecosystem Services ◽  
Local Farmers

Climate smart forestry (CSF) is considered as a promising approach for climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies as highlighted in several European policy documents. This paper describes a prospective approach to introducing an incentive-based scheme to facilitate the implementation of CSF through a case study in Iceland. It is argued that the payments for ecosystem services (PES) scheme allows for effective CSF management and long-term sustainability if introduced in compliance with local, cultural and social values. In a case study of an Icelandic afforestation programme, we conducted an institutional analysis of the PES scheme and assessed its effect on forest ecosystem services provision on long-term sustainability. We provide preliminary findings on the application of CSF in the 30-year-old Icelandic afforestation programme scheme. The perspectives of forest and policy experts, as well as local farmers participating in the scheme, were crucial for assessing the effectiveness of PES scheme performance in Iceland.

scholarly journals How Do Trade-Offs and Synergies between Ecosystem Services Change in the Long Period? The Case Study of Uxin, Inner Mongolia, China

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 6041 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhang ◽  
Li ◽  
Buyantuev ◽  
Bao ◽  
Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Stepwise Regression ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Extended Period ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Development And Utilization ◽  
Long Term Trends

Ecosystem services management should often expect to deal with non-linearities due to trade-offs and synergies between ecosystem services (ES). Therefore, it is important to analyze long-term trends in ES development and utilization to understand their responses to climate change and intensification of human activities. In this paper, the region of Uxin in Inner Mongolia, China, was chosen as a case study area to describe the spatial distribution and trends of 5 ES indicators. Changes in relationships between ES and driving forces of dynamics of ES relationships were analyzed for the period 1979–2016 using a stepwise regression. We found that: the magnitude and directions in ES relationships changed during this extended period; those changes are influenced by climate factors, land use change, technological progress, and population growth.

scholarly journals Water funds and payments for ecosystem services: practice learns from theory and theory can learn from practice

Oryx ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca L. Goldman-Benner ◽  
Silvia Benitez ◽  
Timothy Boucher ◽  
Alejandro Calvache ◽  
Gretchen Daily ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Service Provider ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Landscape Scale ◽  
Payments For Ecosystem Services ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Trust Fund

AbstractPayments for ecosystem services (PES) are emerging worldwide as important mechanisms to align investments in human and natural well-being. PES projects are often defined as voluntary transactions where well-defined environmental/ecosystem services (or land uses likely to secure those services) are bought by a minimum of one service buyer, from a minimum of one service provider, if and only if the service provider continuously secures service provision (conditionality). Further criteria of PES include limiting additional objectives and ensuring that payments reward behaviour that would otherwise not occur (additionality). Together these best practices for PES are increasingly accepted as the most efficient means to achieve desired outcomes and are guiding funding for PES projects. We used a series of water funds (watershed-oriented PES projects based on a trust fund model) to examine how theoretical best practices could inform and improve practice and also how theory could learn from practical efforts. We conclude that thoughtful consideration is required when evaluating the promise of a PES approach against a theoretical ideal. We found that requiring conditionality may limit the use of creative finance mechanisms such as trust funds that can provide long-term benefits for conservation and human well-being, and that requiring additionality can exclude benefits from social diffusion and result in the inefficient targeting of PES funds. Finally, public–private partnerships in water funds lead to multiple additional/side objectives but partnerships are likely to lower transaction costs and provide transparent, long-term landscape-scale watershed management.

scholarly journals Assessing Impacts of Soil Management Measures on Ecosystem Services

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gudrun Schwilch ◽  
Tatenda Lemann ◽  
Örjan Berglund ◽  
Carlo Camarotto ◽  
Artemi Cerdà ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Soil Management ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Property Changes ◽  
The Impact

Only a few studies have quantified and measured ecosystem services (ES) specifically related to soil. To address this gap, we have developed and applied a methodology to assess changes in ecosystem services, based on measured or estimated soil property changes that were stimulated by soil management measures (e.g., mulching, terracing, no-till). We applied the ES assessment methodology in 16 case study sites across Europe representing a high diversity of soil threats and land use systems. Various prevention and remediation measures were trialled, and the changes in manageable soil and other natural capital properties were measured and quantified. An Excel tool facilitated data collection, calculation of changes in ecosystem services, and visualization of measured short-term changes and estimated long-term changes at plot level and for the wider area. With this methodology, we were able to successfully collect and compare data on the impact of land management on 15 different ecosystem services from 26 different measures. Overall, the results are positive in terms of the impacts of the trialled measures on ecosystem services, with 18 out of 26 measures having no decrease in any service at the plot level. Although methodological challenges remain, the ES assessment was shown to be a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of the trialled measures, and also served as an input to a stakeholder valuation of ecosystem services at local and sub-national levels.

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