Abstract. This review attempts to present the most important problems raised by ecosystem services evaluation, together with the juridical framework needed for endorsing a long run system of payments. In Romania the legal framework wherein the payments for ecosystem services shall be implemented has been created by the all three Forest Acts adopted by the Parliament since 1996 and the article highlights the pitfalls of the legal provisions referring to these payments. The key-word of the two law articles referred to by the study is the fair price of the ecosystem services, a price which cannot be captured by the market since such a market doesn't exist neither in Romania nor in other similar countries. Another important issue we have brought into discussion is the inappropriateness of any system of payments in the context of illegal cuttings, simply because the opportunity costs that shall be compensated doesn't exist when illegal cuttings occur. Some methodological details are also presented in order to demonstrate that a fair price always depends on the context of evaluation and the statistical imprecision is inherent as long as the any evaluation is carried out on sample of data. However these monetary assessments can be used as economic arguments in any public debate or bargain between ecosystem services providers and users. Keywords ecosystem services, payment IntroducereServiciile ecosistemice, cunoscute în practica amenajării pădurilor drept funcții de protecție (FP), au cele două atribute ale bunurilor publice perfecte: non-rivalitatea și non-exclusivitatea. Non-rivalitatea înseamnă că același bun poată fi folosit simultan de mai mulți oameni, iar non-exclusivitatea presupune ca utilizarea unui astfel de bun să nu fie condiționată în niciun fel de ofertant sau producător. Învăță-mântul primar și securitatea națională intră în categoria serviciilor publice perfecte (Farley și Costanza 2010).