Flow and rent-based opportunity costs of water ecosystem service provision in a complex farming system

Abstract

rent-based opportunity costs of water ecosystem service provision in a complex farming system. Ecology and Society 21 (4) ABSTRACT. Unsustainable land uses present many challenges for securing ecosystem service provision. It is also difficult to estimate the cost of a transition to more sustainable land-management practices for individual landholders. The main cost to landholders is the opportunity costs, the income foregone when changing land use for continued or enhanced ecosystem service provision. Thus accurate estimation of opportunity costs and understanding their distribution are crucial starting points for determining the economic viability and design of any payment for ecosystem services (PES) scheme. We compare two opportunity cost approaches and examine the distribution of these costs for improving drinking water quality in a complex farming system in a Honduran forest catchment. Data for both approaches was collected through a survey applied to upstream catchment landholders. Our results indicate that the direct flow approach and the proxy rent approach provide comparable and consistent opportunity cost estimates. The mean net flow return ha -1 was US$1410, but this estimate was skewed, mainly by exceptionally high coffee returns and negative returns of land uses making a loss. This estimate would imply spending over US$2 million per annum for water conservation, but a revised estimate comes to US$257,057 per annum. Opportunity costs were found to vary according to differences in land use and landholder characteristics. High value cash crops upholding the local economy, such as coffee, entail much higher opportunity costs than for example cattle grazing. These results suggest that discriminate PES payments, that vary according to opportunity costs and thus discriminate between land uses and landholders, are essential. Water quality at our case study site could be managed sustainably by a scheme focusing on highimpact land uses with lower opportunity costs and closer to water sources.

Atlantic Forest scenarios under the parameters of forestry laws

“…Although anthropogenic uses can act negatively on the preservationist prism of the PPAs in Scenarios III, Bertini, Fushita and Lima (2015), Platiau et al (2014), and Rendon, Dallimer and Paavola, (2016) found that there is a growing interest in the conservation community in developing strategies to ensure production with conservation of biodiversity and the generation of environmental services in the PPAs.…”

“…These areas are covered or not by vegetation and are located alongside water courses, around springs, on steep slopes, and hilltops, among others, and they offer environmental services of the PPAs. Among the main ecosystem services of the PPAs are the preservation of water resources, edaphic and landscape, geological stability, biodiversity flows and the welfare of society (Brazil, 2012a;Coutinho;Freitas;Philippi Júnior, 2014;Rendon;Dallimer;Paavola, 2016).…”

Aportes para el diseño de esquemas de pagos por servicios ambientales en la cuenca del lago de Tota, Colombia

“…Es necesario contrastar los valores de CO de usos del suelo agrícola encontra-dos, con otras fuentes de información referidas a paisajes agrícolas en zonas en alta montaña andina. En la literatura revisada no se hallaron valores comparativos de CO de usos del suelo agrícola para distintas zonas o regiones, sino para distintos cultivos o métodos en una misma zona de estudio (Wunscher et al, 2011;Rendon et al, 2016), debido a la heterogeneidad de factores que inciden en el cálculo; sin embargo, sí existe una literatura más amplia que compara valores de los pagos acordados para distintos PSA según servicio ambiental o actividades asociadas a la conservación o recuperación de estos (Kosoy, Martínez-Tuna, Muradian & Martínez-Alier, 2007;Wunder, Engel & Pagiola, 2008;Ferraro, 2008;Ojea & Martin-Ortega, 2015;Grima, Singh, Smetschka & Ringhofer, 2016) Teniendo en cuenta lo anterior, se consultó con habitantes de la zona o investigadores que han trabajado en esta área, para tener una idea sobre el precio de arrendamiento y venta de la tierra en la cuenca del lago de Tota. Según lo informado por estos, el valor del arriendo de una hectárea para la siembra en zona apta para el cultivo de cebolla puede oscilar entre los 300 000 pesos/mes y los 2 000 000 pesos/mes.…”

“…sistemas productivos y tipos de cultivos) y las características socioeconómicas de los propietarios o poseedores (p. ej. tenencia de la tierra), entre otros factores (Rendon, Dallimer, & Paavola, 2016).…”

Green Total Factor Efficiency in Vegetable Production: A Comprehensive Ecological Analysis of China’s Practices

“…Furthermore, the interplay between agricultural income and environmental considerations has been investigated using diverse methodologies [75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82]. For example, Barbosa et al (2015) estimated that while hydroponic systems in heated greenhouses could yield 11 times more lettuce than traditional soil farming, they required 82 times more energy due to their reliance on electricity [83].…”