Impacts of Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services in Protecting Forests in Dak Lak Province, Vietnam

Vietnam’s Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES) scheme has the goal of protecting remaining natural forests by providing financial support to people involved in forest protection. However, studying the case of Dak Lak province in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam shows that even after eight years of PFES implementation, achieving this goal remains a challenge. Although PFES does provide a stable income source and higher payments than state forest protection programs, enables the mobilization of more personnel resources for patrolling forest and relieves a great burden on the state budget in terms of investment in forest protection and development, forest cover in Dak Lak province is still decreasing, mainly due to conversion for other land uses, especially commercial agricultural and industrial crops. These drivers are rooted in national socio-economic planning aimed at boosting economic growth and in local people’s need to sustain their livelihoods. In addition, our paper shows that illegal logging is still widespread in Dak Lak. Weak law enforcement in areas of forest managed by state forest authorities and state companies also contributes to deforestation. However, these drivers are neither fully recognized nor addressed, and instead, the blame for deforestation is laid on local communities. PFES alone cannot protect forests in Dak Lak province. It needs to be backed up by political commitment to address underlying drivers of deforestation, improved social programs to help local people diversify their income sources and clarity over land use.

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Evaluating incentive-based programs to support forest ecosystem services

Environmental Conservation ◽

10.1017/s0376892917000017 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 44 (1) ◽

pp. 1-4 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

WILLIAM NIKOLAKIS ◽

JOHN L. INNES

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

South America ◽

Habitat Loss ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Terrestrial Ecosystem ◽

Primary Forest ◽

Natural Forests ◽

Old Growth ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services

Forests are the most widespread terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. In 2015, natural forests accounted for 93% (3.7 billion ha) of this global forest area (FAO 2016), albeit only 26% of these are primary forest (i.e. old-growth or ancient woodland). Since 1990, 31 million ha of primary forest have been modified or cleared, and a net loss of 129 million ha of natural forest has occurred (–0.13%/year) (FAO 2016). This deforestation has largely been in tropical South America and Africa, where forests have been cleared and converted for agricultural uses, resulting in habitat loss and carbon emissions.

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Assessing the Amenity Value of Forest Ecosystem Services: Perspectives from the Use of Sustainable Green Spaces

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11164500 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (16) ◽

pp. 4500 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Wan-Yu Liu ◽

Yen-Yu Lin ◽

Han-Shen Chen ◽

Chi-Ming Hsieh

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Tourism Industry ◽

National Forest ◽

Environmental Groups ◽

Natural Forests ◽

Amenity Value ◽

Forest Park ◽

Travel And Tourism ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services

Due to the fragility of forest ecosystems, developing forest recreational resources must consider sustainable ecological, economic, and social development, and reduce impacts from recreational activities. Diverse forests with different biodiversity could promote forest ecosystem services and resistance to the pressure of tourism development. Under such circumstance, it is important to ensure that the travel and tourism industry develops under the principle of sustainable management and assists ecosystem conservation. Forest ecosystem services (FES) have received increasing attention. Especially, the amenity value provided by FES is beneficial for enhancing human health, and has gained popularity. Huisun National Forest Park (HNFP) has the greatest natural forests in Taiwan, and tourists visit the HNFP for the well-preserved environment, abundance of green space, cleanliness, beautiful scenery, and quietness. This study assessed the amenity value of the Huisun National Forest Park (HNFP) by adopting the payment card method via face-to-face survey data of 223 respondents. The annual amenity value of the HNFP per person is NT$2884 in winter and NT$2905 in summer. The total annual amenity value of the HNFP is NT$473,978,430–474,755,774. The results showed that gender, age, education level, monthly income, place of residence, participation in environmental groups, frequency of visiting the HNFP, and stay period significantly influence willingness to pay (WTP). This study concludes that an ecologically sustainable forest with ecosystem services could provide multiple benefits to different stakeholders.

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Mapping the Supply of Local Forest Ecosystem Services: Based on Delphi and Land Use Scoring Method

Journal of the Association of Korean Geographers ◽

10.25202/jakg.9.2.5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 295-312

Author(s):

Jang-Hwan Jo ◽

Moon-Ki Choi ◽

Oh Seok Kim ◽

Kyeong-hak Lee ◽

Chang-Bae Lee

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Scoring Method ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services

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Assessing the impacts of changing climate on forest ecosystem services and livelihood of Balakot mountainous communities

Pakistan Journal of Botany ◽

10.30848/pjb2019-4(1) ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 51 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Laila Shahzad ◽

Arifa Tahir ◽

Faiza Sharif ◽

Ikram Ul Haq ◽

Hamid Mukhtar

Keyword(s):

Ecosystem Services ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Changing Climate ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services ◽

Mountainous Communities

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Wald und Klimawandel in der inneralpinen Trockenregion Visp

Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen ◽

10.3188/szf.2012.0481 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 163 (12) ◽

pp. 481-492

Author(s):

Andreas Rigling ◽

Ché Elkin ◽

Matthias Dobbertin ◽

Britta Eilmann ◽

Arnaud Giuggiola ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Forest Management ◽

Forest Ecosystem ◽

Bark Beetles ◽

Forest Ecosystems ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Forest Monitoring ◽

Management Interventions ◽

Forest Ecosystem Services

Forest and climate change in the inner-Alpine dry region of Visp Over the past decades, observed increases in temperature have been particularly pronounced in mountain regions. If this trend should continue in the 21st Century, frequency and intensity of droughts will increase, and will pose major challenges for forest management. Under current conditions drought-related tree mortality is already an important factor of forest ecosystems in dry inner-Alpine valleys. Here we assess the sensitivity of forest ecosystems to climate change and evaluate alternative forest management strategies in the Visp region. We integrate data from forest monitoring plots, field experiments and dynamic forests models to evaluate how the forest ecosystem services timber production, protection against natural hazards, carbon storage and biodiver-sity will be impacted. Our results suggest that at dry low elevation sites the drought tolerance of native tree species will be exceeded so that in the longer term a transition to more drought-adapted species should be considered. At medium elevations, drought and insect disturbances as by bark beetles are projected to be important for forest development, while at high elevations forests are projected to expand and grow better. All of the ecosystem services that we considered are projected to be impacted by changing forest conditions, with the specific impacts often being elevation-dependent. In the medium term, forest management that aims to increase the resilience of forests to drought can help maintain forest ecosystem services temporarily. However, our results suggest that relatively rigid management interventions are required to achieve significant effects. By using a combination of environmental monitoring, field experiments and modeling, we are able to gain insight into how forest ecosystem, and the services they provide, will respond to future changes.

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