Figure 13: Overview of PES implementation
Payment identified
by an intermediary
Effect of service
provided
Unidentified
funding Tax
Producer
Ecosystem service
provider
Beneficiaries
of ecosystem
service
Public or private
intermediary
Public or private
organization
86
The operational implementation of PES comprises threemain issues:
➊
Environmental effectiveness involves evaluating the impact of changes in individual
practices on the production of a given service. Thismakes it possible to target
suppliers of ecosystem services that require priority compensation to increase the
programme’s environmental effectiveness. In practice, payments are oftenmade in a
standardizedmanner relating to surface area or length and effortsmade by providers,
but not in relation to results;
➋
The cost effectiveness of PES is connected to the question of the additionality of the
supply of a service in relation to a status quo scenario. In other words, does the PES
add value or, on the contrary, would the paid stakeholders have carried out the activities
concernedwithout payment, voluntarily or otherwise?
➌
Equity occurs in asmuch as, in principle, PES remunerates peoplewho are not ready to
change their practices voluntarily, andwho are not obliged to do so by regulations.
However, at the same time, some stakeholderswould be ready to spontaneously
change their practiceswithout waiting for compensation. The use of standard payments
achieves greater equity between provider stakeholders.
PES has twomain limitations:
n
Thewindfall effect, i.e. the fact that stakeholders take advantage of an opportunity to
receive payment for acting as they did in the past;
n
Payment of a service to stop ormodify an activity that is actually illegal.
In economic terms, for an operation towork, the Payment for EcosystemServicesmust be
higher than the cost of opportunity or service production by the supplier (or loss of earnings).
Two aspects should be studied and considered concerning the value of environmental
services:
n
On one side, the value of the ecosystem service should be brought to a specific territory
(e.g. basin or sub-basin scale), before establishing overall targets for this service and
devisingmanagement andmonitoring instruments at this level (“macro” vision);
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THEHANDBOOK FORMANAGEMENT
ANDRESTORATIONOF AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS INRIVERAND LAKE BASINS
7 ECONOMICAND FINANCIAL ASPECTS
