Payment for Ecosystem Services
Payment for Ecosystem Services, also called payments for environmental services is a generic term of variety of arrangements through which the beneficiaries of ecosystem services pay back the providers of those services. The ecosystem services can range from watershed protection, forest conservation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, landscape beauty in support of ecotourism and may be present at any scale, from local to national or international.
There are currently apprehensions about emerging economic instruments, particularly PES, in India among various stakeholders in India partly due to limited understanding about their potential for contributing to conservation and human well being. As part of World Bank/WWF Alliance for forest conservation and sustainable use, a project ‘Economic Instruments for Managing Forest Ecosystem Services in India has been undertaken this year in collaboration with Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), Delhi to examine the scope and opportunities for introducing suitable economic instruments, including PES for forest conservation in India. Two economic instruments have been identified : (i) Net Present Value of Forest Land (NPV) and (ii) Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), with a focus on urban water supply. The sites idenfiried for this study are Gangtok (Sikkim), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and Munnar (Kerala).
Based on the results of the study we have initiated several follow up activities to promote payments for ecosystem service in India wherever it is feasible.
There are currently apprehensions about emerging economic instruments, particularly PES, in India among various stakeholders in India partly due to limited understanding about their potential for contributing to conservation and human well being. As part of World Bank/WWF Alliance for forest conservation and sustainable use, a project ‘Economic Instruments for Managing Forest Ecosystem Services in India has been undertaken this year in collaboration with Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), Delhi to examine the scope and opportunities for introducing suitable economic instruments, including PES for forest conservation in India. Two economic instruments have been identified : (i) Net Present Value of Forest Land (NPV) and (ii) Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), with a focus on urban water supply. The sites idenfiried for this study are Gangtok (Sikkim), Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and Munnar (Kerala).
Based on the results of the study we have initiated several follow up activities to promote payments for ecosystem service in India wherever it is feasible.
Tropical Evergreen Forests of Bhimashankar WLS