Payments for ecosystem services: justified or not? A political view

Hecken, Gert Van; Bastiaensen, Johan

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2010.09.006

Cited by 139 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…28). The ecological effectiveness of such policies clearly depends on the individual scheme's design and is under debate (Kleijn et al 2001;Marggraf 2003;van Hecken and Bastiaensen 2010;Uthes and Matzdorf 2013). However, as the decision to include legumes in the requirements is at the discretion of member states or regional authorities, the overall volume of support to legumes via this measure is comparably small, but may be very relevant in specific regions (Bues et al 2013).…”

Section: Support To Sustainable Farming Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grain legume decline and potential recovery in European agriculture: a review

Zander

Amjath-Babu

Preißel

et al. 2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

166

157

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Sustainable development of agriculture is at the core of agricultural policy debates in Europe. There is a consensus that diversification of cropping would support sustainable development. However, a reduction in legume cultivation has been observed in the EU during the last decades. This decline has induced, in turn, a deficit of proteins and a reduction of ecosystem services provided by legumes. Therefore, we analysed the mechanisms that shape agricultural systems to identify leverage points for reviving European legume production. Specifically, we reviewed the factors that affect the market and non-market value of legumes and the relevant agricultural policies. We characterized the decline in legume cropping as an outcome of the dominance of economic forces that favour specialization of production systems over diversification. We found that the value of market outputs of legumes per unit area is relatively low and volatile, with a 25-78 % variation in pea gross margins, which reduces market competitiveness. We observed that the value of systeminternal outputs of legumes such as the nitrogen fixed, of 130 to 153 kg N ha; crop protection services that reduce agrochemical costs, by 20-25 % in cereals; and yield enhancements of subsequent crops, of 0.2 to 1.6 t ha −1 in cereals, are often underestimated. In addition, markets fail to translate external effects of legumes such as biodiversity enhancement, reduction in emissions, of up to 50 % in N 2 O, and soil improvements into economic benefits. Current policies support legumes through selected mechanisms such as ecological focus areas, agri-environmental programmes and sparse coupled support measures. Domestic cultivation of legumes could be supported through trade policies such as import restrictions on genetically modified soybean or new mechanisms to appreciate non-market outputs including payments for ecosystem services and carbon markets. In addition, development of new value chains, niche markets, scaling-up of plant breeding efforts and dissemination of information is required.

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Section: Support To Sustainable Farming Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grain legume decline and potential recovery in European agriculture: a review

Zander

Amjath-Babu

Preißel

et al. 2016

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

166

157

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Major ES promoted through PES as commodification are watershed protection, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and aesthetic and landscape beauty in forest-dominated socio-ecological landscapes [73]. Therefore, it is based on the beneficiary-pays rather than of polluter-pays principles [74].…”

Section: Payment For Ecosystem Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing Forest Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Environmental Governance: A Review

Adhikari

Baral²

2018

Environments

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Governing forest ecosystem services as a forest socio-ecological system is an evolving concept in the face of different environmental and social challenges. Therefore, different modes of ecosystem governance such as hierarchical, scientific-technical, and adaptive-collaborative governance have been developed. Although each form of governance offers important features, no one form on its own is sufficient to attain sustainable environmental governance (SEG). Thus, the blending of important features of each mode of governance could contribute to SEG, through a combination of both hierarchical and collaborative governance systems supported by scientifically and technically aided knowledge. This should be further reinforced by the broad engagement of stakeholders to ensure the improved well-being of both ecosystems and humans. Some form of governance and forest management measures, including sustainable forest management, forest certification, and payment for ecosystem services mechanisms, are also contributing to that end. While issues around commodification and putting a price on nature are still contested due to the complex relationship between different services, if these limitations are taken into account, the governance of forest ecosystem services will serve as a means of effective environmental governance and the sustainable management of forest resources. Therefore, forest ecosystem services governance has a promising future for SEG, provided limitations are tackled with due care in future governance endeavors.

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“…In addition to using market forces for the efficient allocation of user rights to natural resources, the "…PES philosophy argues for the internalization of environmental externalities through the creation of markets and quasi-markets" [2]. This notion is linked to the Coase Theorem [3], which holds that the problem of external effects can be overcome under certain conditions through private negotiations between affected parties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Institutional Challenges of Payment for Ecosystem Service Program in China: A Review of the Effectiveness and Implementation of Sloping Land Conversion Program

et al. 2015

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Abstract:This study is an overview of the effectiveness and institutional challenges of China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP). The SLCP is the Chinese government's largest Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) program and one of the largest PES programs in the world. From an institutional perspective, the SLCP is particularly interesting because it represents a hybrid governance type that includes both voluntary and hierarchical (top-down) elements rather than traditional command-and-control approach. Our analysis is based on a literature review that encompasses 164 international scientific articles. To identify institutional challenges, we linked the results regarding the effectiveness of the program to its institutional aspects. Our SLCP case study highlights the dependence of the effectiveness of a governmental PES program on the specific regulatory institutional setting and the particular actors involved. Our results show that some institutional challenges undermine the anticipated advantages of PES (local participation) and eventually reshape the program outcomes through implementation process, particularly in cases of hybrid governance structures in which institutional requirements are as important as the design of the specific financial incentives. The collaboration between relevant government actors at different hierarchical levels, and specifically the motivations and interests of the government actors OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 5565 responsible for the implementation on the ground, play crucial roles. The SLCP can be an important milestone in environmental policy in China and the world, if more innovative elements of a theoretically ideal PES-such as local flexibility and self-interest (or at least the acceptance of the service providers supplying the relevant ecosystem services) can be strengthened. The environmental goals can be achieved in combination with greater self-interest of the applicable government actors on all hierarchical levels.

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Payments for ecosystem services: justified or not? A political view

Cited by 139 publications

References 31 publications

Grain legume decline and potential recovery in European agriculture: a review

Grain legume decline and potential recovery in European agriculture: a review

Governing Forest Ecosystem Services for Sustainable Environmental Governance: A Review

The Institutional Challenges of Payment for Ecosystem Service Program in China: A Review of the Effectiveness and Implementation of Sloping Land Conversion Program

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