Potential and limitations of Payments for Environmental Services (PES) as a means to manage watershed services in mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract

Based on two case studies conducted at local sites in Northern Thailand and Lao PDR, the objectives of this paper are (i) to assess whether conditions for the establishment of PES at the watershed level exist in the uplands of mainland SE Asia and (ii) to examine and discuss limitations that are likely to impinge Potential and limitations of PES 17on direct transfer of the PES concept as well as the institutional adaptations and support that are required for the successful implementation of PES markets in this regional context. The study's main findings are that: (i) acceptance of PES principles and constraints are directly related to stakeholders' perception of their land rights irrespective of their actual rights; (ii) willingness to pay (WTP) is very low among local stakeholders, making any PES market unlikely to emerge without external support; (iii) the classical scheme for watershed services hardly applies in its original form because environmental service (ES) providers and buyers are generally the same people; (iv) where potential ES buyers feel that ES providers are better-off or wealthier than them, they do not have any WTP for ES; (v) good governance, including a strong liaising at various levels between people and the authorities is a strong prerequisite for the successful establishment of PES markets, even without direct government funding.

Agriculture sur pentes au Vietnam : une nécessité pour la sécurité alimentaire et un risque pour la durabilité du système agricole

“…Le nouveau concept de PES (Payment for Environmental Services) a été construit sur cette base (Pagiola et Platais, 2004 ;Tomich et al, 2004). Le challenge de cette approche est alors de mixer intérêt économique et engagement mutuel (George et al, 2009). Par ce biais, le concept permet d'assurer l'adaptation des politiques agricoles aux contraintes et surtout aux demandes locales.…”

“…L'idée est de relier politiques agricoles et stratégies individuelles dans une même action répondant à la fois aux contraintes physiques, économiques et culturelles des milieux physiques et humains en même temps qu'aux contraintes institutionnelles et de gouvernance. Mais au-delà de la notion abstraite de développement durable (George et al, 2009), il semble nécessaire de pouvoir renseigner l'attente sociale via un objet technologique. Dans le cas du Nord Vietnam où les conditions de développement exigent une mise en agriculture des terres sur les pentes, le bio-digesteur comme objet d'intérêt mutuel entre agriculteurs et décideurs pourrait être une des solutions pour garantir une agriculture durable sur les terres de pente sans risque pour les terres de plaine.…”

The Business of Greening:Policy Measures for Green Business Development in Asia

“…Putting a price on nature does not always reflect the full range of values that ecosystem services bring, including intangible and nonhuman services (Timperley 2016). There are also social risks associated with implementing PES programs in the absence of property and customary tenure rights, particularly for vulnerable groups such as indigenous communities, whose livelihoods rely on ecosystem services and may be compromised by competing with would-be developers (Richards and Jenkins 2007;George et al 2009). In this view, PES can be considered part of a package of policy measures covering a wide range of market-based, voluntary, and command-and-control approaches.…”