{"id":6116,"date":"2021-11-11T14:52:21","date_gmt":"2021-11-11T14:52:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/partnershipsforforests.com\/?p=6116"},"modified":"2021-11-12T10:03:23","modified_gmt":"2021-11-12T10:03:23","slug":"using-payments-for-ecosystem-services-to-protect-and-regenerate-tropical-forests-pes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/partnershipsforforests.com\/2021\/11\/11\/using-payments-for-ecosystem-services-to-protect-and-regenerate-tropical-forests-pes\/","title":{"rendered":"Using Payments for Ecosystem Services to protect and regenerate tropical forests"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Principles and examples for developing regenerative businesses in tropical forest landscapes<\/em><\/em>.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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At a recent Restoration Factory<\/a> seminar for entrepreneurs working on regenerative businesses in tropical forest landscapes, P4F shared principles and examples of how payments for ecosystem services can be accessed to support business development. Here are some key takeaways.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reforesting land areas, preventing logging, or cleaning up waterways are all critical steps towards maintaining biodiversity and reducing emissions \u2013 benefits that help the global community, as well as those who rely on an ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers and landowners living close to environmentally valuable land or water systems are often the people best placed to carry out these kinds of restoration activities \u2013 but doing so takes time, effort, and has an opportunity cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) come in. PES aim to incentivise environmentally protective \u2013 or restorative \u2013 practices by offering payments, similar to subsidies, to those who undertake them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Payments are generally made by those who are beneficiaries of the ecological services \u2013 for example, water users and hydropower companies who benefit from a polluted waterway being cleaned up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ecological services can take a huge variety of forms \u2013 from fairly straightforward activities such as creating wind breaks or dispersing seeds, through to detoxifying waste, or purifying water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can focus on, among other things, protecting biodiversity (by protecting high-value habitat, for instance), avoiding deforestation, reforesting, or climate stabilisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to make PES models that work<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While PES can incentivise practices that are incredibly beneficial for the environment, as well as providing an income and business experience to those in rural areas, it is a system that needs to be finely balanced. For a PES system to work efficiently and effectively, some core principles must be incorporated: involvement must be voluntary; it must be \u2018beneficiary pays\u2019; actions must have additionality; and conditionality \u2013 payments must be dependent on the delivery of ecosystem benefits -; permanence must be ensured; and leakage must be avoided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The configuration of a PES system must also be considered, which could see payments set up one-to-one<\/strong> (e.g. a company contracting a single major landowner to provide carbon sequestration); one-to-many<\/strong> (e.g. a water utility contracting, through a broker, many farm businesses for water-sensitive practices); many-to-one<\/strong> (e.g. multiple buyers investing in the development of urban green space); or many-to-many<\/strong> (e.g. a government paying farmers for sympathetic land management practices).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With principles and configuration taken into account, we can consider the other factors that need to be in place for PES revenues to flow. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n