Climate change, forest restoration and payment for ecosystem services
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Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) is an innovative approach towards tackling climate change by using financial incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation. The paper deliberates upon PES approach to forest restoration and various contexts in which it has been applied. An important need is to be flexible and adapt to lessons learned and changing circumstances. PES can concomitantly benefit buyers and sellers and improve the resource base. Costa Rica pioneered PES by establishing a programme of payments. Its 1996 forestry law explicitly recognizes four forest ecosystem services: carbon fixation and sequestration, hydrological services, biodiversity protection, and scenic beauty. Through financial and legal mechanisms, beneficiaries of forest service compensate those who protect them. Indian judiciary instituted a compensatory afforestation mechanism. It collects funds from buyers to finance the restoration of forests and related ecological and aesthetic landscapes. This mechanism moved into implementation mode about 10 years ago with a corpus fund of over 2.2 billion US dollars and to release resources for forest restoration equal to the interest earned. Drawing upon case studies, the paper concludes that PES potential to concurrently support sustainable development and forest restoration depends upon governance system and design of payment schemes. Since climate change shall impact the capacity of forests to provide vital ecosystem services, the projected socio-economic consequences will be severe, more so for forest-dependent communities vulnerable to climate variability. PES strategies and schemes thus need to be designed to promote holistic and contextual approach to forest restoration, ecosystem services, human wellbeing and climate change adaptation andmitigation.
Keywords: Climate, Ecosystems, Economics, Finance, Forests, PES
ID: 3486186