Payment for Water-Related Ecosystem Services as a Strategic Watershed Management Approach

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been created worldwide to assist watershed management and improve or maintain water quality. Considering their importance, we conducted a holistic review of payment for water-related ecosystem services to understand how this instrument has been applied in watershed management worldwide. First, we identified the watershed management actions considered by the PES programs and the challenges of implementing water-related PES. After we identified the methods and criteria used to define priority areas for water-related PES. Our review considered articles published on the Web of Science from 2011 to 2022. We found 236 articles relating PES to water resources, highlighting the main water conservation strategies: native vegetation conservation, native vegetation restoration, and implementing best agricultural practices. The method most frequent was interview, followed by the use of technologies, document analysis, and hydrological models. Another significant result was that priority areas for receiving PES are mainly riparian zones, areas near or with native vegetation cover, areas with higher erosion potential, steep areas, and areas with socially vulnerable communities. This review was crucial to identify efficient water resource conservation strategies and potential challenges in the implementation and development of PES programs.

Risk identification and prioritization in banking projects of payment service provider companies:An empirical study

ldentifying risks and prioritizing is important for payment service provider(PSP)companies to get banking projects and gain more market share.However,studies regarding the identification of risks and causal relationships are insufficient in the lranian PSP industry and the industry is unique because of its characteristics.In this study,30 experts involved with PSP companies are employed as the research sample.Eleven key risks and 46 sub-risks are also ientified.Subsequently,the fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory technique is applied to determine the effective and affected risks and the severity of their effects on each other.Finally,all risks are ranked.Due to the interal interrelationships of the main risks,the weight of each risk is calculated via the fuzy analytic network process.As the second-level risks have no significant interrelationships,they are ranked via the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process.Moreover,the best-worst method is used to ensure that the obtained rankings are reliable.This study identifies the risks affecting the loss of banking projects and determines the impacts of these risks on each.A sensitivity analysis is then conducted on the weights of the criteria,and the results are compared.

A review of spatial targeting methods of payment for ecosystem services

Payments for Ecosystem Services(PES)have been studied extensively over the past decade as an important policy tool for coordinating ecological protection and regional socioeconomic development.One of the greatest challenges of PES implementation is to understand where to pay,i.e.,spatial targeting,which can directly impact PES effectiveness and efficiency.In this study,we conducted a systematic review of spatial targeting methods based on literature analysis using Citespace.Firstly,peer-reviewed articles related to spatial targeting of PES were selected from the Web of Science database based on keywords.Cases applying PES spatial targeting methods were then chosen and analyzed after all articles were read.In total,70%of the chosen cases focused on improving the compensation efficiency of biodiversity or another single environmental objective,whereas the remaining cases focused on coordinating trade-offs between equity and efficiency or multiple environmental objectives.The main PES spatial targeting approaches included cost-benefit analysis,multi-objective optimization,data envelope analysis and other methods aimed at specific issues.Of these,cost-benefit analysis has been most widely applied at different scales,including county,regional and watershed scales.Significant differences among the different PES spatial targeting methods were found,including in PES spatial targeting dimensions,efficiency optimization approaches and method application conditions.The practice of PES spatial targeting requires the selection of appropriate methods based on contextual biophysical and socioeconomic conditions as well as relevant environmental issues.The combined application of PES spatial targeting methods,compensation willingness of stakeholders and dynamic implementation of PES spatial targeting should be considered in future research.

Payments for Watershed Services and Practices in China:Achievements and Challenges

Implementation of payments for watershed services(PWS) has been regarded as a promising approach to coordinating the interests of upstream and downstream ecosystem services stakeholders. There is growing concern about whether PWS programs have achieved their original environmental goals of improving water quality and quantity, as well as the ancillary objective of increasing the welfare of local people. We start with an overview of PWS schemes and focus on their particularity and implementation mechanisms in China. We proceed to review 62 active PWS cases and examine their environmental performance in detail. The resulting findings show that PWS schemes have been able to reduce water pollution to some extent by establishing collaborative upstream/downstream watershed management policies, thereby improving water quality and quantity, as well as by making government officials more responsible for water resource management. In addition, their continued effectiveness in light of present challenges such as water-quality data availability is discussed. Chinese PWS schemes and their implementation mechanisms also provide information useful in monitoring environmental outcomes and guiding future designs of PWS programs in other regions.

Chinese Policies and Practices regarding Payments for Ecological Services in Watersheds

Watersheds provide a variety of ecological services including soil and water conservation, carbon sequestration and biodiversity protection. However, activities in a fast-growing economy significantly impact the supply and demand of these watershed services. To mitigate these impacts, the concept of payment for environmental and ecosystem services from water-sheds has emerged in global academic and policy circles. The governments and academic communities in China have increas-ingly described payments for ecological services from watersheds with the concept of watershed eco-compensation as it is urgent to protect watershed ecosystems. Watershed eco-compensation has proved to be one of the most economically effective means of solving environmental problems of watersheds to be adopted by the Chinese government. This paper presents an objective analysis of the Chinese market for watershed ecosystem services, including supply and demand for the services. It also summarizes Chinese policies on watershed eco-compensation, including relevant laws and regulations and fiscal policies. In addition, it presents a re-view of Chinese practices in watershed eco-compensation, in-cluding the analysis of an ecological construction project in West-ern China, inter-provincial watershed eco-compensation practices and plans, and payment for ecological services at the provincial and small watershed levels. Finally, it summarizes the key com-ponents of the process of payment in Chinese watershed eco-compensation. This discussion forms the basis of concluding suggestions for ecosystem services compensation and ecological protection in the large scale river basin.

Assessment of Payment for Ecosystem Services in Zomba Mountain Forest Catchment Area, Malawi

The emergence of Payment for Ecosystem Services （PES） concept has raised expectations that ecosystem conservation can be achieved through popular payments rather than through unpopular measures of command and control. A study on PES was conducted in Zomba Mountain Forest （ZMF） catchment area in southern Malawi between August and December 2009. The aim was to assess stakeholders＇ role that would promote payment for ecosystem services as a management tool. A purposive sampling was used to identify the respondents who were randomly sampled for interviews. The findings show that PES can be used as a management tool in ZMF as there are key stakeholders who benefit from the catchment area in terms of services. While there is moderate level of PES awareness among the community and other stakeholders, the current forest policy does not address PES which may derail implementation of a fully fledged PES arrangement. The study revealed that existing management challenges originate from inadequate funding that ZMF Reserve gets from government. However, this challenge offers opportunities to stakeholders through PES to contribute and participate in conserving ZMF for sustained flow of benefits.

Necessary Conditions and Situational Variables of Payments for Ecosystem Services

Clarifying the necessary conditions for the emergence of payments for ecosystem services (PES) and the situational variables that affect PES is the basis for their interpretation, prediction, and selection. This article proposes an analytical framework for the emergence of PES and argues that the key to determining whether PES can occur and whether a selected PES program is appropriate is to evaluate the net gain. When payers anticipate that a PES program will provide a satisfactory number of ES and a net gain over the opportunity cost and will cover all costs, it is assumed that the program will be implemented. When it is difficult to accurately evaluate the net gain of PES, the situational variables that affect the costs and benefits need to be examined. The group characteristics, ES characteristics, spatial and temporal contacts between the suppliers and demanders, correlation with private goods and additionality are important situational variables that affect the emergence and choice of PES.

Payment for Ecosystem Services Markets and Rural Development in BrazilmA Co-evolutionary Approach

The article discusses the payment for ecosystem or environmental services markets in Brazil with a critical review, based on the ecological economics literature and focused on the concept of co-evolution. It is argued that the mainstream approach which considers ecosystem services as an externality has many shortcomings and fails to consider institutional and political aspects---all very critical for the design and implementation of a PES （Payment for ecosystem services） project or program. The complexity and the diversity of co-evolutionary relations between ecosystem services and socioeconomic activities are spatially or territorially specific. In this sense, different types of PES market have to adapt and coevolve with different ongoing development processes.

Open banking and inclusive finance in the European Union:perspectives from the Dutch stakeholder ecosystem

In the European Union(EU),the revised Payment Services Directive(PSD2)aims to provide more convenient and customized financial products through open banking(OB)platforms.However,little attention has been paid to the role of OB in improving the financial well-being of the growing number of the EU’s underserved groups,which currently constitute approximately a quarter of its population.This study examines how the PSD2 and OB impact inclusive finance in the EU based on the perspectives of the Netherlands’ecosystem,one of the leaders in the EU’s financial technology(FinTech)landscape.A fundamental distinction can be drawn between the OB users and the ecosystem’s players.Regarding the impact of financial services on the users’inclusivity,while the PSD2 strengthens the infrastructure necessary for financial inclusion,many challenges remain,mainly because it was not designed for this purpose.This study identifies several areas of improvement that include adjustments to the know your customer and anti-money laundering processes for underserved customers,innovative ways to communicate the PSD2’s potential,and the regulation of technology providers’activities to build trust.Meanwhile,from the ecosystem’s position,there is a need to strengthen and improve microfinance regulation according to the opportunities provided by the PSD2 to support microfinance institutions(MFIs)in scaling up and reaching underserved clients across borders with innovative services.OB improvements can also be achieved by organizations formed by MFIs and FinTechs in collaboration with banks.Such hybrid institutions will combine the best features of each of them:knowledge of the needs of local underserved clients from MFIs,technological innovations from FinTechs,and large and trusted customer bases,infrastructures,and access to institutional investments and governments from banks.Finally,an EU inclusive OB sector depends on the centrality of trusted regulators as coordination bodies.The PSD2 requires adjustments for underserved populations’specific needs.OB improvements can be achieved by organizations formed by MFIs and Fin-Techs in collaboration with banks.Regulated technical service providers(TSPs)are crucial to building trust and customer adoption in OB.The European Banking Authority(EBA)may function as coordination body to design inclusive rules by engaging with OB stakeholders.As inclusive finance moves into open-finance and data eras,an increasing regulatory complexity and scope will require networks of innovative and trusted regulators.

Payments for Ecosystem Services: Market Mechanism or Diversified Modes?

Payment for ecosystem services is a concept of environmental protection and method of environmental management that has ＂purchasing conservation＂ as a major feature and has grown around the world since the 1990 s. It is stressed by the school of environmental economics that as a voluntary mechanism of exchange between ecological service providers and demanders, payments for ecosystem services can help to increase inputs and improve efficiency. Ecological economics holds that the ecological system and the complexity of the policy environment restrict the functional space of market mechanisms. The negative influence of the objective of giving priority to efficiency on environmental protection and social fairness cannot be neglected; therefore, the exchange mechanism is just one type of eco-compensation models. Here, we posit that payments for ecosystem services is a good tool for environmental protection and increases inputs and efficiency. Although payment for ecosystem services is confronted with challenges in application, it is playing an increasingly important role in the field of ecological services with a relatively high degree of commodification. Payments for ecosystem services can also increase the cost effectiveness of publicly managed environmental projects with the cooperation of other policy tools.

Payments for Grassland Ecosystem Services:A Comparison of Two Examples in China and Germany

目前,草地生态系统退化成为全球关注的问题。生态补偿机制(PES)是为了草地生态系统的恢复/保护,采取补贴或支付费用的方式,改变使用者资源利用方式的制度安排。科学、合理的生态补偿制度需要全面地考虑可能出现的风险和挑战:如环境效益的滞后性,不可预见的监督、管理成本和社会经济目标(足额补偿标准、公平)的实现。本文的目标是通过中德两国生态补偿措施的对比(选取中国内蒙古锡林郭勒盟,德国勃兰登堡州为案例区域进行研究),为今后中德两国的生态补偿理论和实践提供依据。研究着重以下四个方面进行分析:中德两国生态补偿的实施框架,目标人群,实施效果评估等。研究结果表明,由于缺乏有效的激励机制,农户作为最基层的执行单位和实施者,其参与的主动性不够,中德两国生态补偿措施实施的成效有待提高。基于研究结果,提出了今后生态补偿项目设计中,中国应侧重于项目实施的监控和管理制度;而德国应在空间目标规划和具体管理措施和方式等方面进行完善。

Research on Optimizing the Tax Business Environment - Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau's Innovation Reform as an Example

Since 2013,optimizing the business environment has become China's national strategy.In recent years,the Party and the government have continuously introduced a series of new measures such as the'"streamline administration,delegate power,strengthen regulation,and improve services55 reform to promote the continuous optimization of the business environment.As an important part of the business environment,the tax business environment is of great significance to improve the business environment and promote economic development.By analyzing the current situation of the tax business environment in China,this article discusses the existing problems in the process of optimizing tax business environment in China.Taking Shunde Taxation Bureau's innovative reform of tax business environment optimization as an example,this article introduces the practical innovation and promotion of optimizing tax business environment from four aspects:promoting convenience,digitalization,legalization,and intensive reform,in order to provide relevant experience for the optimization of tax business environment in other areas of China.

Estimating farmers’stated willingness to accept pay for ecosystem services:case of Lake Naivasha watershed Payment for Ecosystem Services scheme-Kenya

Introduction:Lake Naivasha watershed is recognized for its contribution to Kenya’s national gross domestic product from the export of horticultural products.Commercial horticultural investment downstream depends mainly on the Lake’s water.The fresh water lake lacks surface outflow,and its recharge depends on river Malewa flowing from upper catchment in Aberdare ranges.However,unsustainable land use practices in the upper catchment has led to increasing sediment loading and pollution in river Malewa which affects water quality in the Lake downstream.Payment for Environmental Services(PES)scheme has been initiated as an alternative incentive approach to motivate upstream smallholder farmers adopt sustainable land use practices for conservation of watershed services.This paper analyzes willingness to accept pay(WTA)as proxy economic measure of environmental service(ES)value and determines socio-economic factors influencing farmers WTA for watershed conservation.We analyzed the WTA and characterized WTA underlying socio-economic determinants in two PES intervention sites in Kenya.Methods:The objective of this study was to estimate WTA and determine socio-economic factors influencing WTA.Semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 200 PES farmers through face-to-face interview.We applied contingent valuation(CV)and logistic regression for data analyses to elicit farmer’s WTA estimates to implement PES farm practices and determine socio-economic factors influencing WTA,respectively.Results:Results revealed over 90% of respondents were farmers and 60% had primary level of education.Average household farm size was 2.305 acres and family size was six members on average.We recorded a monthly marginal household increase in gross income from Kshs.6891.969(US$68.92)before PES to Kshs.11,011.48(US$110.12)with PES interventions.The estimated annual lowest and highest WTA for PES farm practices were at Kshs.8835(US$88.35)for grass strip and Kshs.21,847.500(US$218.48)for fallowing.Household socio-economic characteristics had significant influence on WTA among farmers.Conclusions:The study revealed heterogeneity in WTA estimates among PES implementing farmers.The WTA reflects opportunity cost to farmers.We recommend PES mechanism as a policy tool to internalize negative watershed externalities to provide ecosystem services.

Computing payment for ecosystem services in watersheds: An analysis of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China

Payment for ecosystem services （PES） has attracted considerable attention as an economic incentive for promoting natural resource management recently. As emphasis has been placed on using the incentive-based mechanism by the central government, rapid progress on PES research and practice has been achieved. However PES still faces many difficulties. A key issue is the lack of a fully-fledged theory and method to clearly define the design scope, accounting and feasibility of PES criteria. An improved watershed criteria model was developed in light of research on PES practices in China, investigations on the water source area for the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion and ecosystem services outflows theory. The basic principle of assessment is the direct and opportunity cost for ecological conservation and environmental protection in the water source area deduct nationally-financed PES and internal effect. Then the scope and the criteria methods were determined, and internal effect was put forward to define benefits brought from water source area. Finally, Shiyan City, which is the main water source area for the Project of Water Diversion, was analyzed by this model and its payment was calculated. The results showed that： （1） during 2003–2050, the total direct cost and opportunity cost would reach up to 262.70 billion and 256.33 billion Chinese Yuan （CNY, 2000 constant prices）, i.e., 50.61% and 49.38% of total cost, respectively; （2） Shiyan City would gain 0.23, 0.06 and 0.03 CNY/m3 in 2014–2020, 2021–2030, and 2031–2050, respectively.

Payments for watershed ecosystem services:mechanism,progress and challenges

Introduction:Payment for watershed ecosystem services(PWES),a policy instrument for compensating for the externality of watershed ecosystem/environmental services,has gained in policy importance in China over the past two decades.Many scholars and researchers have contributed to the conceptualization of this policy framework by developing operational mechanisms as well as compensation standards for PWES.Outcomes:This article reviews 27 PWES schemes piloted in China and in 10 other countries,with a particular emphasis on successful cases of land-use conversion programs,such as the Paddy Land to Dry Land Program and Sloping Land Conversion Program that have been implemented in China.Discussion:By comparing different cases,the authors attempt to answer the following questions:what were the ecological and institutional contexts in which these schemes were established and how did they work?What were the actual efficiencies and impacts of these piloted schemes?Which scheme worked better in certain ecological,socio-economic,and institutional contexts?Conclusion:Based on case studies,the authors draw the following conclusions about Chinese PWES:(1)to establish an acceptable standard for a PWES program,it is necessary to estimate the economic and social costs regarding the livelihoods of households;(2)multistakeholder negotiation mechanism for PWES,including intermediaries,such as the local government,NGO/NPOs,village committees,and user associations,should be used;(3)ES,non-market services,should acquire positive externalities to accomplish an optimal win–win pattern concerning both environmental goals and the livelihoods of local resource users.

Net Horizontal Payments for Ecosystem Services: An Application in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region of China

Payments for ecosystem services(PES) are one kind of important tool for environmental protection, and have been widely studied by international scholars and conservationists. Based various definitions of PES from recent articles, we have outlined four principles for PES: parity, measurability, additionality and conditionality, and then have used these principles to develop a formula to calculate a standard for PES. Finding a way to use PES to achieve a win-win relationship between economic growth and environmental protection in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region(BTHR) is a key task for Chinese government. Synergetic development of BTHR has become a national strategy, like The Belt and Road Initiative. This article employed the formula we developed to calculate the net horizontal PES amounts that each provincial government within BTHR should pay. Our findings show that Beijing should have paid 10.44×10~9 Yuan(0.4% of Beijing’s GRP) and Tianjin 16.56×109 Yuan(0.93% of Tianjin’s GRP) to Hebei in 2016.

Assessment of Willingness to Pay as a Source of Financing for the Sustainable Development of Barobbob Watershed in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

This study employed the Contingent Valuation Method to assess the willingness to pay of water users, as a source of financing for the sustainable development of Barobbob Watershed. The WTP study was conducted among 345 waters users in 19 barangays in the municipalities of Solano and Bayombong. Uncensored data revealed that 63.8% (58.84% for the adjusted) of the respondents revealed willingness to pay for improved watershed management. The mean WTP amount, estimated through a logit model, Turnbull Distributor-Free Estimator and Lower Bound Estimate, is found to be PhP39.35, PhP27.80 and PhP25.90/month/household, respectively. Respondents WTP is influenced by bid amount, age, membership in environmental organization, experience with water-related problems, civil status, house ownership, and awareness on the concept of watershed. Respondents were willing to pay because they wanted a sustainable water supply for the present and future generations. A payment scheme is possible and it could provide a sustainable flow of fund, however, the willingness percentages still needed to be increased. Community education and public awareness (CEPA) campaign is necessary to enhance the water users’ knowledge and understand about the importance and values of watersheds. Ultimately, WTP percentage and WTP amounts would increase.

The Global Science of Integrated Water Governance

Abstract： This study discusses the benefits of establishing a broader discipline of water science, based on the organizing mechanism of PES-W （payments for ecosystem services on the watershed scale）. PES-W is derived from an extension of governance analyses of 163 watershed-based PES （payments for ecosystem services） programs, and from the integrative decision mechanism of IPES （integrated payments for ecosystem services） to generalize the PES approach. PES-W reflects three interrelated perspectives fundamental to the global science of integrated water governance： （1） the ecological and economic perspective to integrate human incentives for integrated water resources governance; （2） the sociological and ecological perspective to form partnerships for meta-monitoring and recta-funding for integrated watershed governance; and （3） the scientific and sociological perspective to develop organizing botmdaries based on technology, lifestyle, entrepreneurship and organizing infrastructure for integrated aquatic ecosystem governance. This study is intended to communicate with the international scientific communities for establishing an advanced, academic, and practical multidisciplinary field of the global science of integrated water governance as a critical condition for sustainable development in human societies.

Ethical Dimensions of Payment for Forest Environmental Services

The market-based incentive mechanism of payments for forest environmental services (PFES) seeks to capture part of the benefits derived from forest environmental services and channels them to forest resource owners/managers who generate these services, thus increases their incentives to conserve and manage forest resources. This paper examines some of the most important ethical issues entailed by PFES mechanism. The analysis shows that PFES may not always benefit the poor due to the comparative disadvantages of the poor and the complicated characteristics of forest ecosystem services. It is important and urgent to take ethical dimensions into account in the PFES approaches and design and develop the pro- poor payment mechanism in order to achieve the two objectives of forest conservation and economic development.

Neighborhood impacts on household participation in payments for ecosystem services programs in a Chinese nature reserve:A methodological exploration

Payments for Ecosystem Services(PES)programs have been implemented in both developing and developed countries to conserve ecosystems and the vital services they provide.These programs also often seek to maintain or improve the economic wellbeing of the populations living in the corresponding(usually rural)areas.Previous studies suggest that PES policy design,presence or absence of concurrent PES programs,and a variety of socioeconomic and demographic factors can influence decisions of households to participate or not in the PES program.However,neighborhood impacts on household participation in PES have rarely been addressed.This study explores potential neighborhood effects on villagers'enrollment in the Grain-to-Green Program(GTGP),one of the largest PES programs in the world,using data from China's Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve.We utilize a fixed effects logistic regression model in combination with the eigenvector spatial filtering(ESF)method to explore whether neighborhood size affects household enrollment in GTGP.By comparing the results with and without ESF,we find that the ESF method can help account for spatial autocorrelation properly and reveal neighborhood impacts that are otherwise hidden,including the effects of area of forest enrolled in a concurrent PES program,gender and household size.The method can thus uncover mechanisms previously undetected due to not taking into account neighborhood impacts and thus provides an additional way to account for neighborhood impacts in PES programs and other studies.