Turning the Tide: How Payments for Ecosystem Services

Slowing and reversing tropical forest loss has long been a conservation priority. Traditional concerns 4 over the loss of habitat have been amplified by a growing awareness of the role of forests in the 5 global carbon cycle and as carbon sinks, with tropical deforestation accounting for 8-20% of 6 anthropogenic CO2 emissions (Solomon, 2007). Payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes are 7 emerging as new market-based approaches for forest conservation, with advocates hoping that they 8 will address some of the underlying economic and political drivers of forest loss and provide direct 9 economic incentives for conservation. Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (or 10 REDD+) are a set of international policies designed to compensate land owners for demonstrable 11 reductions in forest-based carbon emissions. Whilst the REDD+ programs currently being developed 12 and implemented in more than 40 countries often allow only marginal roles for local communities 13 there are many opportunities for such projects to reflect principles of social justice and local control 14 (Danielsen et al. 2013). 15