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Payment schemes for environmental services in watersheds

Year of publication 2004

Pages 95 p.

Author Land and Water Division

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Series title FAO Land and Water Discussion Papers

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Payment schemes for environmental services (PES) are innovative instruments for natural resources management which are increasingly being applied in Latin America. In a watershed context, PES schemes generally involve the implementation of market mechanisms to compensate upstream landowners in order to maintain or modify a particular land use that is affecting the availability and/or quality of the water resources for downstream users. The Regional Forum on Payment Schemes for Environmental Serv ices in Watersheds was held during the Third Latin American Congress on Watershed Management (Arequipa, Peru, 9–13 June 2003) to exchange experiences with these schemes in Latin America and to formulate recommendations for the economic valuation of water-related services, as well as the design and execution of PES schemes in watersheds. This report summarizes the lessons and recommendations of the forum. The complete documentation, including 19 papers, 22 presentations and case studies, is inclu ded on the CD-ROM that accompanies this publication.

Language Bilingual

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    New Tools for Old Problems: Can Payments for Watershed Services Support Sustainable Agricultural Development in Africa? 2009
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    Agriculture affects both the quantity and quality of water available for other uses, and under current production systems the impact is often negative. Adopting sustainable land management (SLM) practices can foster a more efficient water use and increase agricultural productivity, while reducing environmental risk from water pollution and regulating flows serving downstream communities. One of the key barriers to adoption of such practices is the high upfront cost associated with SLM implementa tion, which are a disincentive to their practice by poor landowners. This paper discusses how an emerging policy tool- Payments for Environmental Services (PES)- can bridge this gap by financing initial SLM investment costs, thereby lowering the cost barriers to SLM implementation. Drawing on ongoing experience in Tanzania, we discuss the main constraints to be addressed in order to realize this potential.
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    Equitable payments for watershed services: Financing conservation and development in Tanzania
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    EPWS begins with the identification of a water problem (quantity and/or quality) downstream. this problem has significant financial impact for water users (domestic, industrial, commercial). causes of the problem are located upstream as a consequence of unsustainable land use (subsistence agriculture) by poor farmers who degrade the ecosystem.
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    Document
    Relevance of OECD Agri-Environmental Measures for Remuneration of Positive Externalities / Payments for Environmental Services
    Stakeholders Consultation From Payment of Environmental Externalities to Remuneration of Positive Externalities in the Agriculture and Food Sector FAO, Rome, 27-28 September 2010
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    This paper reviews the development of agri-environmental policies in the European Union and other OECD countries, both in historical terms and in terms of the characteristics and challenges of different approaches. The process of reforming the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, and in particular the likely increased emphasis on payment for public goods (positive externalities and environmental services), is also reviewed. Key issues from the OECD experience are highlighted, including: the problem of indentifying the level of provision of public goods and the resulting focus on payment of prescriptions not outputs; the issue of cost-effectiveness of schemes and the balance between targeted schemes and schemes based on land-use systems; and the need for other policy measures, including research and training, to provide a base and supportive framework on which RPE/PES schemes can be built. The experience with private-sector or market-led solutions is also reviewed. Finally, some key points for the development of schemes elsewhere are identified.
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