FOREST ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
Dr. Mohit Gera, IFS
Faculty, IGNFA
E mail: mohitgera87@gmail.com
OUTLINE …
Goods and services from forests
Relevance to NLBI
Payment for ecosystem services
Case study results from India
GOODS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY
THE FORESTS
Goods
• Timber, fuelwood
• Pulpwood
• Food (tubers, flowers,
seeds and gums)
• Non-edible oils
• Medicines
• Fibers and flosses
• Resins
• Lac
• Tendu and other leaves
• Bamboos and canes
• Fodder
• Water
Services
• Soil stabilization & erosion
control
• Ground water recharge
• Regulation of climate by trapping
moisture
• Trees trap PM & improve air
quality (human health)
• Biological diversity
• Habitat for wildlife
• Nutrients re-cycling
• Recreation & tourism
• Maintenance of visual quality of
environment.
• Carbon sink & sequestration
Relevance to NLBI
The national policies and measures of NLBI essentially
cover the following:
1. Encourage recognition of the values, particularly
the intangible values from forests as well as from
Trees outside Forests.
2. Explore ways to reflect such values in market place
in line with the national policies and the legislation.
(Domestic markets may be more rewarding than the international
market; Explore vigorously the domestic markets)
3. Developing effective financing strategies for SFM.
4. Enhanced access to local population to forest
resources and relevant markets.
Introduction to payments for environmental services
Water services
Supply of services:
Upstream land uses affect
the Quantity, Quality, and
Timing of water flows
Adopted from Stefano Pagiola & Gunars Platais, 2005 Stefano Pagiola and Gunars Platais, 2005
5
Introduction to payments for environmental services
Water services
Demand for services:
Possible downstream
beneficiaries:
•
•
•
•
Domestic water use
Irrigated agriculture
Fisheries
Recreation
Stefano Pagiola and Gunars Platais, 2005
6
Introduction to payments for environmental services
The problem
Deforestation
and use for
pasture
Conservation
Benefits
to land
users
Costs to
downstream
populations
Stefano Pagiola and Gunars Platais, 2005
7
Introduction to payments for environmental services
The logic of payments for environmental services
Deforestation
and use for
pasture
Conservation
with payment
for service
Payment
Benefits
to land
users
Costs to
downstream
populations
Important!
This logic is repeated
every year
» Need annual payments
» Need sustained financing
Stefano Pagiola and Gunars Platais, 2005
8
What is Payment for Ecosystem Service ?
PES is a voluntary transaction where
1. There is a well-defined Ecosystem Service
2. is being 'bought' by a (minimum one) ES
buyer
3.
4.
from a (minimum one) ES provider
if and only if the ES provider secures ES
provision (conditionality).
The core idea of PES is that external ES beneficiaries
make direct, contractual and conditional payments to
local landholders for adopting practices that secure
ecosystem conservation and ensure uninterrupted flow
of ES in question.
BENEFICIARY PAYS PRINCIPLE
Examples of ecosystem services in demand
• Recreational value
• Air quality improvement (urban demand)
• Watershed protection (Water, soil conservation)
• Biodiversity conservation
• Carbon sinks
Need for creation of a system of localized payments
for these ecosystem services from forests. This
may prove to be a long term & sustainable
solution to financing SFM in India.
AVAILABLE LITERATURE ON
TCM STUDIES FROM INDIA
(i) Valuation of biodiversity in KNP : Rs 427.04/(average consumer surplus, Chopra et al.)
(ii) Rs. 194.68 was calculated to be average
recreational benefit per visit for VOF
National Park (Gera et al., 2003)
CVM STUDIES CONDUCTED IN
INDIA
1. WTP for annual Recreational benefits of Bhoj
wetland
– Rs 241/hh.
2. WTP for Maintenance and preservation of Borivili
National Park
– Rs 90 per hh.
3. Aggregate benefits to urban literate & employed
people when the water quality of river Ganges
improves from present to bathing quality
– Rs. 500.02 per hh
CVM STUDIES CONDUCTED IN
INDIA contd…
4. Valuation of Terai forests of Yamuna subbasin, 40 districts (Hills, plains & foot hills)
for the services of recreation, biodiversity
conservation and nutrient cycling etc.
Average WTP = Rs. 519.87 per hh/year
CONCLUSION
Why should a forest be assigned a
value when it is slated to be lost?
“Beneficiary pays principle”
Payment for Environmental Services
may be the key.
We should have a mechanism in place
for localized payments to ES providers.
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR KIND
ATTENTION