Payments for Ecosystem Services

Abstract

The basic principle of “payments for ecosystem services” (PES) is the creation of markets linking the “suppliers” of ecosystem services with their “users” (beneficiaries of ecosystem services). Some services that are currently traded, such as food, fiber, and some water-based products, have established markets, albeit that market value is generally assigned only to the target service with implications for other services largely overlooked in the production process. However, most services are entirely omitted from markets (for example, most aspects of natural flood and pest regulation, pollination, soil formation processes, etc.), though there are examples of nascent markets for some services recognized as important (such as carbon markets, biodiversity offsets, etc.) PES seeks to develop markets for services that may formerly have been omitted from economic systems.