Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have attracted increasing interest as a mechanism to conserve landscapes. The dominant theory behind PES assumes that ecosystem services are undersupplied because of market failures and therefore valuing and paying for these services to land stewards will help ensure landscape conservation and provision of ecosystem services. By directly linking payments with opportunity costs of conservation, PES is claimed to be more economically efficient and environmentally effective than previous regulatory approaches to conservation. It is also argued that PES can also help alleviate land-holder poverty. The potential for these win-win options has made PES programs attractive as efficient conservation policy tools. This vision is evidenced in the growing number of PES programs around the globe. For instance, the United Nations’ Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) program has proposed to channel millions of dollars through a PES approach for forest conservation in the tropics.

Authors: Vardhan, M.; Catacutan, D.

Subjects: ecosystem services, incentive, gender

Publication type: Chapter-R, Publication

Year: 2017