TY - JOUR
T1 - A place-based approach to payments for ecosystem services
AU - Reed, M. S.
AU - Allen, K.
AU - Attlee, A.
AU - Dougill, A. J.
AU - Evans, K. L.
AU - Kenter, J. O.
AU - Hoy, J.
AU - McNab, D.
AU - Stead, S. M.
AU - Twyman, C.
AU - Scott, A. S.
AU - Smyth, M. A.
AU - Stringer, L. C.
AU - Whittingham, M. J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper arose from an ESRC Interdisciplinary Exchanges Seminar Series, led by Chasca Twyman. Thanks to Helen Dunn and Colin Smith from Defra and Ruth Waters from Natural England, who commissioned and provided significant intellectual input to the original research based on the place-based approach. Thanks to Clifton Bain for feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. Funding was provided by Defra, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Moors for the Future partnership and Yorkshire Peat Partnership, with in-kind support from IUCN UK Peatland Programme.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016
PY - 2017/3/1
Y1 - 2017/3/1
N2 - Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are proliferating but are challenged by insufficient attention to spatial and temporal inter-dependencies, interactions between different ecosystems and their services, and the need for multi-level governance. To address these challenges, this paper develops a place-based approach to the development and implementation of PES schemes that incorporates multi-level governance, bundling or layering of services across multiple scales, and shared values for ecosystem services. The approach is evaluated and illustrated using case study research to develop an explicitly place-based PES scheme, the Peatland Code, owned and managed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's UK Peatland Programme and designed to pay for restoration of peatland habitats. Buyers preferred bundled schemes with premium pricing of a primary service, contrasting with sellers’ preferences for quantifying and marketing services separately in a layered scheme. There was limited awareness among key business sectors of dependencies on ecosystem services, or the risks and opportunities arising from their management. Companies with financial links to peatlands or a strong environmental sustainability focus were interested in the scheme, particularly in relation to climate regulation, water quality, biodiversity and flood risk mitigation benefits. Visitors were most interested in donating to projects that benefited wildlife and were willing to donate around 2 on-site during a visit. Sellers agreed a deliberated fair price per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 11.18 to 15.65 across four sites in Scotland, with this range primarily driven by spatial variation in habitat degradation. In the Peak District, perceived declines in sheep and grouse productivity arising from ditch blocking led to substantially higher prices, but in other regions ditch blocking was viewed more positively. The Peatland Code was developed in close collaboration with stakeholders at catchment, landscape and national scales, enabling multi-level governance of the management and delivery of ecosystem services across these scales. Place-based PES schemes can mitigate negative trade-offs between ecosystem services, more effectively include cultural ecosystem services and engage with and empower diverse stakeholders in scheme design and governance.
AB - Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are proliferating but are challenged by insufficient attention to spatial and temporal inter-dependencies, interactions between different ecosystems and their services, and the need for multi-level governance. To address these challenges, this paper develops a place-based approach to the development and implementation of PES schemes that incorporates multi-level governance, bundling or layering of services across multiple scales, and shared values for ecosystem services. The approach is evaluated and illustrated using case study research to develop an explicitly place-based PES scheme, the Peatland Code, owned and managed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's UK Peatland Programme and designed to pay for restoration of peatland habitats. Buyers preferred bundled schemes with premium pricing of a primary service, contrasting with sellers’ preferences for quantifying and marketing services separately in a layered scheme. There was limited awareness among key business sectors of dependencies on ecosystem services, or the risks and opportunities arising from their management. Companies with financial links to peatlands or a strong environmental sustainability focus were interested in the scheme, particularly in relation to climate regulation, water quality, biodiversity and flood risk mitigation benefits. Visitors were most interested in donating to projects that benefited wildlife and were willing to donate around 2 on-site during a visit. Sellers agreed a deliberated fair price per tonne of CO2 equivalent from 11.18 to 15.65 across four sites in Scotland, with this range primarily driven by spatial variation in habitat degradation. In the Peak District, perceived declines in sheep and grouse productivity arising from ditch blocking led to substantially higher prices, but in other regions ditch blocking was viewed more positively. The Peatland Code was developed in close collaboration with stakeholders at catchment, landscape and national scales, enabling multi-level governance of the management and delivery of ecosystem services across these scales. Place-based PES schemes can mitigate negative trade-offs between ecosystem services, more effectively include cultural ecosystem services and engage with and empower diverse stakeholders in scheme design and governance.
KW - Ecological economics
KW - Ecological restoration
KW - Governance
KW - Moorland
KW - Valuation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85011337336&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.12.009
DO - 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2016.12.009
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85011337336
SN - 0959-3780
VL - 43
SP - 92
EP - 106
JO - Global Environmental Change
JF - Global Environmental Change
ER -