Lecture 14 - payments for ecosystem services

Question 1

what influenced the need to payments for ecosystem services?

Answer 1

• total cost of protection in low -lower-middle income countries needs a 10x increase in budget
• 0.85 million pounds of cost trying to downlist bird species
• PES to fund protection of tropical forest and biodiversity

Question 2

what is an ecosystem service?

Answer 2

the provision of a natural resource or process that is valued by human kind

Question 3

what are the 4 categories defined by the millenium ecosystem assessment?

Answer 3

1) supporting services
2) provisioning services
3) regulating services
4) cultural services

Question 4

describe supporting services

Answer 4

• necessary for production of all other ecosystem services
• some are difficult to measure e.g. soil formation, photosynthesis, nutrient recycling
• some are easier to measure e.g. seed dispersal and pollination

Question 5

describe provisioning services

Answer 5

products obtained from ecosystems e.g. food, water, timber, fibre

Question 6

describe regulating services

Answer 6

benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystem processes e.g. climate, flood, disease regulation, water purification
e.g. during super cyclone in India mangrove forests reduced deaths by 69%

Question 7

describe cultural services

Answer 7

non material benefits e.g. aesthetic, recreational, ecotourism e.g. lodges in peru are more profitable than logging or agriculture

Question 8

what is valuing ecosystem services?

Answer 8

can be valued in monetry terms

Question 9

what are the 3 stages to Constanzas paper aiming to foster an understanding of the economic benefits of conservation? (most cited scientific paper)

Answer 9

1) economic framing - ecosystem viewed as capital - ecosystem functions viewed as services
2) Monetization - captal or services given exchange ($ values )
3) commodification - inclusion of non-marketed services into pricing systems and markets - creational of industrial structures of sale and exchange

Question 10

describe how ecosystem service schemes can be effected by location

Answer 10

• strong spatial congruence with centres of population
• most ecosystem services shemes will not protect remote forests
• value goes up closer to coasts and cities

Question 11

what are the dangers of commodification?

Answer 11

• there is a global imbalance in energy use and deforestation and live above and below ground carbon
• material elements have been traded since birth of markets - controversy over where to draw the line in what should/shouldn’t be commodified
• anthropogenic perspectives that prioritises instrumental values to humans - diminish intrinsic values- imply sustainability e.g. insectivorous birds can be replaced by pesticides - value services

Question 12

what does REDD+ stand for?

Answer 12

reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation - the + was added to include roles of biodiversity conservation, sustainable forestry and enhancements of forest carbon stocks

Question 13

what does the UNFCCC predict about REDD+ payments

Answer 13

predicts REDD+ payments could reach 30 billion per year

Question 14

describe the REDD+ market

Answer 14

carbon sold must be ‘additional’ - to reduce background rate of carbon and enhance rate of carbon sequestration
- in the global carbon market most purchases want to pay the cheapest price possible

Question 15

describe the co- benefits of carbon- biodiversity

Answer 15

• win - win when high carbon stores correlate with high biodiversity
• carbon payments thus protect biodiversity
• however this is not always the case

Question 16

describe overlaying of carbon and biodiversity

Answer 16

• look at the global layer of carbon
• look at the global distribution layers for biodiversity of mammals, birds, amphibians (20,697 species represented)
• strong correlations with carbon and biodiversity but also plenty that aren’t e.g. Andes, Himalaya, Atlantic forest all have lots of species but low carbon

Question 17

what do you have to consider when introducing the cost of CO2

Answer 17

• market will pay lowest per tonne cost CO2 possible
• needs to account for lost potential revenue i.e profit you could have earned from logging and/or farming (opportunity cost)

Question 18

describe the environment of Borneo (sundaland)

Answer 18

• very intensive logging, forest conversion to plantations

- 2 different forest types 1) dryland (dipterocarp) 2) peatswamp

Question 19

what is the issue of protection of dryland and peatland forests?

Answer 19

• competes with timber and oil palm industries
• carbon price for protection is very high - any shortfall from payments by REDD+ must be met from other sources e.g. conservation NGOs
• dryland forest in sundaland is therefore unlikely to be protected
• peatland forests protection also competes with oil palm but has a low timber value
• Norway - Indonesia has REDD+ pact up to 1 billion

Question 20

what is NPV (net present value) of forest?

Answer 20

profits from timber extraction and oil palm conversion

Question 21

describe the Indonesian REDD+ moratorium

Answer 21

two year moratorium on new concession licenses in natural forests and peatlands - pressure from ministry of forestry

Question 22

what is a moratorium?

Answer 22

protected all peatlands >50cm deep - excluded >35Mha dryland logged forests
- moratorium areas are indistinct form non-moratorium and recently cleared areas - protection is additional

Question 23

describe peatlands

Answer 23

• deep peat stores alot of carbon
• need low carbon price of $1.6-4.7 per tonne of CO2 to protect 1ha of peatland
• peatlands are not very diverse

Question 24

describe carbon stocks in the tropical Andes

Answer 24

• low intensive cattle farming
• carbon enhancement via regeneration on abandoned farmland
• 1/2 carbon stock recovered in 30 years
• much recovering of primary forest biodiversity inclusing IUCN red listed and endemic species - big carbon-biodiversity co benefits of forest regeneration on abandoned farmland

Question 25

what are the costs of converting cattle farmland to forests

Answer 25

• taking cattle pasture out of production
• managing and implementing carbon project
• 30 yr time horizon

Question 26

describe the benefits of converting farmland for REDD+

Answer 26

REDD+ breakeven point at $2/tCO2 - can buy out low profit farmland cheaply
- can cheaply protect carbon with biodiversity cobenefits

Question 27

what are 3 key REDD+ challenges

Answer 27

1) Neo-colonialist or pro-poor - inequitable forest management operated by natural governments and not local people - alienates people from resources they depend upon
2) leakage - protection in one place displaces deforestation in another - pay for no benefit (block to REDD+)
3) Agricultural intensification - results in better transport networks - which raise possible profits - CO2 per tonne more expensive to meet forest protection plan