生态系统服务付费的诊断框架及案例剖析

A diagnostic framework of payments for ecosystem services and associated case studies

生态系统服务付费目前已成为生态系统服务研究的热点之一。参考Ostrom的社会-生态系统诊断框架,提取并总结影响生态系统服务付费执行效率的变量,建立了适合区域特点的项目绩效评估体系,并以哥斯达黎加(PSA)项目和中国退耕还林工程为例,探讨了该评估体系在生态系统服务付费效率诊断中的适用性。研究表明,依据该评估体系,未来中国在实施生态系统服务付费项目时应注意以下问题:建立生态系统服务付费的市场机制、实施多样化的付费方式;付费标准应考虑区域特征和供给方特征;建立生态系统服务付费项目的第三方监督和绩效评估机制;加强对生态系统服务的监测。

The concept of payments for ecosystem services （PES） can be seen as a market-based model that provides ecological protection based on Coasean economics. Focusing on market mechanisms, PES uses certain funding constraints related to the management of ecosystem services in a way that is designed to maximize environmental benefits received from ecosystem management. The factors affecting PES include the potential ecological service providers, the relationship between land use and ecosystem services, the persistence of a PES project, perverse incentive policies, and the spatial positioning of ecological compensation objects. On the other hand, the implementation of PES involves several steps ： （ 1 ） Determining types of land use change and analyzing the corresponding changes in ecosystem services supply ; （2） Selecting a ＂reference point＂ as a standard to be used to measure the performance of PES implementation, namely determining incremental changes in land-use types; and （3） determining the amount and type of payment. At the end of 2002, 287 projects had been planned or implemented using payments for ecosystem services globally, which were mainly related to such ecosystem services as the aesthetic values of landscapes, forest carbon sequestration, watershed protection and biodiversity conservation, etc. All of these provide practical examples in theory and methodology of ecosystem services＇ payment. However, questions remain as to how one can ensure that these programs using PES actually improve the environmental quality while simultaneously providing benefits to local residents; that is to say, how can the established objectives be achieved？ These problems have drawn the attention of researchers and practitioners alike. Because the methods used in ecosystem service research are very fragmented, this paper proposes a new diagnostic framework that imitates Ostrom＇ssocial-ecological systems. Based on the new diagnostic framework, the factors influencing PES are reorganized into a new system that allows for a more accurate analysis of the effectiveness of PES. The goals are to use an objective method to evaluate PES use, to extract and summarize the variables that affect the efficiency of implementing PES, and to establish a performance assessment system that can be adaptable to any region＇s characteristics. The assessment system consists of four core variables, i.e. Ecosystem Services, Providers, Buyers and Governance Systems; each core variable consists of a number of secondary variables. Relevance feedback is also conducted between each subsystem. This paper summarizes the variables that affect the efficiency of implementing a payment system for ecosystem services; this process is more intuitive and unambiguous than other research methods, and will be beneficial to policy makers tasked with making management decisions, policy-making and evaluating the efficiency of ecological engineering. The Pago por Servicios Ambientales program in Costa Rica, a successful case of payment for ecosystem services in Central America, is discussed as an example to discuss the framework＇ applicability to the efficiency assessment of PES programs. After diagnosing and analyzing the Sloping Land Conversion Program in China, some existing problems are pointed out that affect the efficiency of ecological engineering. Then the establishment of market mechanisms is discussed that can be used to establish payments for ecosystem services, together with the management of regional differences in payment. In addition, it is also proposed for the establishment of third party monitoring for ecosystem services payment projects and the use of associated performance evaluation mechanisms, which are all designed to strengthen the monitoring of ecosystem services payment programs. Physical geography, social economics and cultural background create significant differences in how a program of payment for ecosystem services should be established. Appropriate trade-offs need to be considered if a system is created to be adapted to local conditions. These considerations must be properly applied to the assessment system when evaluating the performance of a PES program. When all the variables that affect the efficient execution of a PES program are considered for the first time, some deficiencies are sure to remain; a need will still exist to constantly enrich and perfect the practice.