Policy Alternatives for Improving Markets for Water Quality and Quantity in the Panama Canal Watershed

Summary

Markets for ecosystem services are receiving ever-increasing attention from the global environmental community as a mechanism to conserve and protect environmental resources. Formal markets for the selling and buying of ecosystem services emerge as institutions and regulatory frameworks are developed and legitimized. For a small country with relatively abundant natural resources, such as Panama, ecosystem service markets have significant potential to provide landowners with a sustainable stream of income while facilitating national environmental protection goals. This paper takes one ecosystem service in Panama-water supply-and assesses a host of policy alternatives to improve markets for water in Panama. The analysis suggests that secured long-term financing mechanisms and strengthened institutional roles are important elements in shaping stakeholder behavior and advancing water markets in Panama.     

Sustainable Tourism

Abstract

New markets for ecosystem services have emerged in response to the failure of traditional biodiversity conservation mechanisms to effectively protect and conserve the processes that support ecosystem function and process (Landell-Mills and Porras, 2002; Pagiola et al., 2002). Sustainable tourism-one market tool that potentially supports biodiversity servicesaims to balance the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural features of tourism development by maintaining environmental resources, the socio-cultural livelihoods of host communities, and providing stakeholder benefits (WTO, 2004). Proponents claim that sustainable tourism contributes toward maintaining biodiversity, while critics fear that marketing various components of biodiversity as distinct services (e.g., only protecting unique places for sustainable tourism, and only protecting extremely biodiverse places for bioprospecting), fails to protect the integrity of the functioning, and dynamic ecosystem (Landell-Mills and Porras, 2002). This chapter serves as one section of a four-part analysis of existing and emerging markets for biodiversity services using Panama as a case study. Based on projections of future sustainable tourism markets, this analysis presents policy options that could positively augment future sustainable tourism ventures.     

Emerging Markets for Ecosystem Services

Abstract

Four main areas of learning were pursued during this exploration of die emerging markets for ecosystem services. First, die markets in Panama are dominated by the Panama Canal Authority and by timber revenues. Any strategy for expanding ecosystem services markets will have to reflect diese realities. Second, while the scientific and business components of die framework we used to analyze diese markets covered all the key points, more work needs to be done on die policy component. Articulating a simple, yet effective approach for developing policy recommendations to improve ecosystem services markets in context remains a key need. Third, valuable lessons were learned about ensuring tiiat the students capture die maximum benefits from an international, clinically-based field trip. Finally, interdisciplinary teaching/ research benefits dramatically from botii a focus on a single problem and recognition that the key challenge is turning complex scientific knowledge into accessible, good advice.     

SECTION 4:INTEGRATED ASSESSMENTS

Abstract

Reforestation of degraded lands is occurring on a limited basis in portions of the Panama Canal Watershed (PCW). In theory, markets for ecosystem services could encourage more extensive reforestation and ensure that reforestation efforts provide more than just timber. The most relevant ecosystem markets for the PCW are carbon sequestration, watershed services, and four biodiversity markets-bioprospecting, certification of biodiversity friendly products, ecotourism, and existence value. This paper examines the possibility for a land owner or land manager to participate in two or more of these markets. Two land use scenarios-native forest plantation and small-holder agroforestry-emerge as likely candidates for participation in multiple ecosystem service markets. These scenarios are examined to determine whether the strength of incentives to provide a bundle of timber and ecosystem services is sufficient to encourage expansion of these land uses with the Panama Canal Watershed.     

Can Bioprospecting Save Itself?

Abstract

Bioprospecting has had a bumpy ride over the last twenty years. High expectations for bioprospecting peaked in 1991 when Costa Rica's INBio program reached a signature deal with Merck Pharmaceuticals. But hopes have waned as bioprospecting has yielded few promising compounds and little in the way of conservation benefits. This paper examines the potential for bioprospecting to contribute to conservation efforts, both broadly and within the specific context of Panama. Today, global markets for bioprospecting services stand at an estimated $60 million per year. A new model for bioprospecting, exemplified by Panama's ICBG project, may be emerging, one that takes a more business-oriented approach to finding drugs. By using ecological insights to guide sample collection, monetizing compounds earlier, and leveraging institutional clout, ICBG Panama may be increasing its odds of scientific success and contributing to conservation in non-monetary ways. I argue that in addition, ICBG Panama, its funders, and other bioprospectors must increase the scale of their operations if they are to create sustainable entities in the Darwinian world of drug discovery. Finally, I make specific policy recommendations for improving the supply and demand of bioprospecting in Panama and globally.     

城市土地利用生态服务价值研究——以三亚市为例

通过区分直接经济价值与生态系统调节和支持服务,本文构建了适用于城市土地利用的生态系统服务价值(ESV)评价模型,并以三亚市为例进行了实证分析。研究发现,规划落实后,ESV总量将出现下降,其中直接经济价值下降明显,而生态调节和支持服务价值则有所提升,反映出三亚城市发展重心由经济到环境的变化。作为对三亚ESV影响最大的土地利用类型,林地和园地构成了三亚市ESV总量的主体,且三亚市ESV受对二者的变动最为敏感;水域对三亚生态系统的水源涵养功能有很大影响。本研究结果可为城市建设与资源环境保护的协调发展提供参考。     

Spatial mapping of the social value of forest services: A case study of northern Jordan

ABSTRACT

Despite the growing body of research on ecosystem services and their valuation, Jordan still faces many challenges with integration of ecosystem service concepts into forest sustainability policy and management planning. One major challenge is the incorporation of local communities into policy design, planning, and implementation. This article aims to provide information about the social value of forests’ provisioning and cultural services in a spatial context using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The study utilizes a new approach to mapping value in rural areas by projecting local forest value from interview data. A value index is created based on indicated importance of services as well as proximity to households, permitting interpolation of value in forested areas between survey points. The resulting maps illustrate ecosystem service “hotspot” areas of significance to planning and management. This mapping technique can be applied in other locations where homes are situated near and within the ecosystems being assessed. The resulting maps serve to inform forest management policy and planning by better integrating communities’ preferences into development and conservation efforts, ensuring more efficient utilization of ecosystem services.     

Determining the Ecological Compensation Standard Based on Forest Multifunction Evaluation and Financial Net Present Value Analysis: A Case Study in Southwestern Guangxi,China

ABSTRACT

There is growing concern that public benefits from forests are underprovided in current forest management regimes and need to be increased through policy and economic measures that promote conservation. Ecological compensation is a type of institutional arrangement for the sustainable use of ecosystem services achieved by adjusting the distribution of costs and benefits among different stakeholders using economic measures. However, how to accurately and reasonably determine the compensation standard for ecological services has not been guided by scientific methods and theories. This study provides an estimation of the compensation standard for forest ecological services based on the forest multifunction evaluation and financial net present value analysis, and a case study was performed in Southwest China. The results showed that most forest types brought some economic loss to the managers but contributed great ecological benefits to the public when they were managed as ecological forests. It is crucial to incentivize forest managers to participate in voluntary conservation programs through ecological compensation. The results of this analysis can potentially guide sustainable forest management by both accurate quantification of the value of forest ecosystem services and an improved understanding of the costs of voluntary forest conservation schemes currently in use in many countries.     

Tropical Forestry

An overview of the forestry sector in Costa Rica was undertaken to determine whether the existing management practices of timber resources hold the potential to meet the country's demands for timber in the immediate decades to come, and to identify changes that might be needed in the management of forested lands. To meet these goals, we examined the present status and potential future contribution of the two newest forest sectors: the management of natural forest and plantation forestry. Rcsults indicate that the present management of Costa Rica's timber resources does not hold the potential to meet the country's demands for timber for more than the next ten years without severe loss of its forests. Substantial progress is occurring, but at an insufficient rate. Moreover, despite the considerable headway made in conservation in recent years, the rate of deforestation remains high. A number of factors limit advancement in natural forest management and plantation forestry, both of which have the potential to deaccelerate deforestation. In natural forest management, constraints are the rate at which forests are being brought under management, lack of budgetary provisions for fiscal incentives to private owners who alone cannot be expected to bear the cost of benefits of natural forest management that are national or even global in their distribution, and the weak infrastructure, extension services and research support to meet management goals. In the case of plantation forestry, the capability of this sector to produce commercial timber is not known. Moreover, inadequate management and extension services together with the misuse of the incentive system by private owners is likely to limit the potential of plantations. Institutional constraints include outdated legal and bureaucratic framework, market interventions, absence of clear policy toward natural forest management and plantation forestry, poor investment in infrastructure, extension and research support, and inadequate interaction among various agencies responsible for the development of the forestry sector. Such institutional constraints have allowed the proliferation of disincentives against the development of a sustainable timber sector. If the Costa Rican government's objective is to encourage sustainable forestry, it must first clearly articulate the policy and then create the appropriate legal, economic and institutional framework for implementation of the policy. Costa Rica, with its enlightened public administration system, vast technical and scientific knowledge about its forest ecosystem and extensive assistance from international organizations, must succeed, otherwise prospects for sustainable forestry in thc less fortunate tropical countries would be bleak.     

Managing watershed services of tropical forests and plantations: Can meta-analyses help?

The watershed services provided by tropical natural and planted forests are critical to human well-being. An increasing number of valuation studies and experiences with payment for ecosystem services have dealt with the role of ecosystems in regulating the flow of water. However, several studies and experiences have been based on misconceptions about the role of forests and plantations in the hydrological cycle, despite the publication of many reviews by hydrologists. The objective of this paper is to evaluate whether meta-analyses applied to studies comparing water flows in tropical watersheds under natural or planted forests and non-forest lands can provide useful results for valuing watershed ecosystem services and making decisions. The meta-analyses show significantly lower total flows or base flows under planted forests than non-forest land uses. Meta-analyses conducted with subsamples of the data also show lower total flow and higher base flow under natural forests than non-forest land uses. However, the available studies were restricted to humid climates and particular forest types (Pinus and Eucalyptus planted forests and lowland natural forests). The small number of available studies with sufficient original data is a major constraint in the application of meta-analyses. This represents a major technical challenge for valuation studies or payment for ecosystem services, especially in countries where financial resources for implementing field research are scarce.     

Carbon in Terrestrial Systems

Abstract

This analysis reviews the state of the knowledge regarding carbon sequestration in terrestrial biomass with specific focus on tropical systems in Central America and Panama. Natural forests, exotic plantations, native species plantations, and agroforestry systems are considered in light of their carbon sequestration potential, their initiation and maintenance costs, and their ability to access the emerging regulated and informal carbon markets. All four of these systems show great potential to take up or store carbon and thus contribute to atmospheric reductions of C0₂. Research, investment, and institutional support are required to assist in the clear definition and expansion of carbon supply possibilities for market transactions.     

Effects of land use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical montane cloud forests of Mexico

Tropical montane cloud forests deliver important goods and services to society, such as timber, the supply and purification of fresh water, and carbon sequestration. In spite of their relevance, current deforestation rates are very high, at the expense of affecting the provision of ecosystem services. We explore the impact of land use change in terms of provision of ecosystem services by following two approaches, one very detailed (focused on hydrological services – water quality) and another one with a broader perspective (at a large scale and considering the ecosystem service value (ESV) of several ecosystems and their ecosystem services at the same time). In the highlands of the State of Veracruz, previously forested lands were converted into coffee plantations and cattle ranches. To evaluate the role of species composition and community structure on water quality, we studied nine small watersheds (<15 ha) covered by pristine cloud forest, coffee plantations and cultivated grassland (three each). Species richness of the three land use types was similar, although species composition was as different as 90%. Overall species diversity as well as that of woody species, and growth form diversities decreased in the transformed land uses. Water quality of streams flowing through these watersheds declined: nutrients (nitrate), conductivity, cations, chloride and suspended solids were lowest in the forest streams and highest in streams from coffee watersheds, whereas grasslands were intermediate. We also calculated ecosystem service values (using the transfer value method) and estimated economic market–non-market gains and losses owing to land transformation. Loss of natural ecosystems may imply a significant economic loss to society in terms of ecosystem services, although market gains may still lead land owners to land conversion because revenues are higher. Adequate Payment for Ecosystem Services may be a good option to prevent deforestation, but the compensation should be at least equal to the opportunity cost of the promoted land use. Our estimates are indicative of the urgent need to go beyond water quantity as the most relevant ecosystem service considered in PES schemes.     

The Practice of Stewardship

Abstract

Community-based ecosystem management efforts are proliferating around the United States. While these projects differ greatly in style, substance, players, and places, they share common elements; the philosophy of stewardship appears to be one of the most powerful. The effort to promote stewardship of local ecosystems has shown remarkable power to engage broad and diverse interests. The authors hypothesize that the concept of stewardship is central to many community-based ecosystem management efforts, acting as the ‘glue’ that holds these efforts together. This chapter explores the emerging philosophy of stewardship, its defining characteristics, and how it differs for community-based ecosystem management efforts. It examines a framework for stewardship at the practitioner's level, with an emphasis on key concerns local practitioners need to address in their projects. The chapter closes with an examination of some of the largest challenges ahead-consistency and accountability, the economics of stewardship, and the need to build a favorable institutional environment-in the continued development of stewardship as an organizing principle for community-based ecosystem management.     

水源保护林生态服务功能及其评价

从水源保护林的生态服务功能角度出发，探讨了水源保护林生态服务功能的内涵，并从生态和经济两个角度阐述水源保护林的评价方法。在此基础上，对水源保护林主要的生态服务功能计量评价模型进行了简述。     

Perspectives on Community-Based Forest Management in Oaxaca,Mexico

Abstract

This compilation of papers explores various aspects related to community-based natural resource management in a comparative analysis of two communities located in different regions of Oaxaca, Mexico: the Chimalapas and the Sierra Norte. The contrasting histories, cultures, and forest ecosystems in the two communities have led to diverse approaches to managing their natural resources. Our analysis highlights the existence of underlying principles driving participatory management approaches, as well as the importance of adapting these approaches to site-specific local conditions. One theme addressed in these papers is the development of appropriate silvicultural techniques that incorporate both the local peoples' needs and experiences with the ecological characteristics of the forest ecosystem. Other land use activities are then discussed that affect management decisions in the regions such as cattle ranching and the collection of medicinal plants within the context of managing for sustainable forest and human ecosystems in the two regions. Finally, the role of community organization and the formation of partnerships with external institutions in strengthening local management and conservation initiatives are also considered. Together, these papers provide a commentary on the potentials and constraints of emerging participatory approaches to managing high priority conservation areas, and which are providing new alternatives where previous models have often failed.     

Ecosystem services in Swedish forests

We identify, describe qualitatively, quantify biophysically and, if possible, monetarily valuate the most important ecosystem services in Swedish forests. Existing Swedish and Nordic research and statistics within this area are reviewed and used to develop a first framework for the valuation of ecosystem services in Swedish forests. We base our analysis on the CICES framework and the Cascade-model. Despite the rather long occurrence and use of the concept of ecosystem services, we do not yet have enough information on the status and economic value of services in Swedish forests. The value of the forest ecosystem services is at best an indication of the different multifunctional objectives that should be met in the management of the Swedish forests. The five most central ecosystem services in Swedish forests according to annual flow are timber and pulpwood, bioenergy, game, climate regulation and recreation and training, each estimated to have a monetary value of several billion SEK. The different ecosystem services in multipurpose forests interact with each other and may lead to conflicts between use and conservation. We identified a number of trade-offs and synergies between services focusing on the five above ecosystem services.     

The Prospects for Integrated Watershed Management in the Panama Canal Watershed

Summary

The Panama Canal is inextricably linked to the Watershed which contains it. Effective policy is critical to manage this resource efficiently. Currently, a myriad of divisions along socio-political, organizational and technical lines are hindering integration of practical knowledge and policy experience. This lack of integration is resulting in inefficient management of the natural resources of the Panama Canal Watershed. This paper will rely on the policy sciences framework to describe, analyze and address this problem. It will begin by highlighting important organizations and their efforts in the Panama Canal Watershed, to understand the social context. Next, the trends and conditions which have shaped the problem will be described, to provide a historical context and help make projections for the future. Finally, alternatives will be presented to address the problem. Some of these options include: prototyping exercises to build practice-based experience, workshops designed to teach integration skills and to provide a common experience base for the participants, and an information coordinator to equalize the flow of information between organizations.     

森林生态系统服务价值核算理论与评估方法研究进展

森林生态系统服务价值评估受到生态学家和经济学家的高度关注。由于森林生态系统自身的复杂性、提供生态服务内容的多样性等, 到目前为止还没有形成统-的分类方法和价值评估体系。文中在综合各种分类方法的基础上将森林生态系统服务初步分为涵养水源、保持水土、固碳释氧、净化环境、农田防护、景观游憩以及生物多样性维护等7类, 并在此基础上系统阐述了近年来森林生态系统价值核算理论与评估方法的最新研究成果。     

The ecology and ecosystem services of native trees: Implications for reforestation and land restoration in Mesoamerica

Tropical forests provide a variety of goods and services to humanity. Although efforts to protect and manage these forests have increased in recent decades, forest loss continues. The last decade and a half has seen considerable research on reforestation with native species in Mesoamerica, including both biophysical and social aspects. Advances in knowledge have led to increasingly sophisticated reforestation treatments as well as novel ways of deriving forest goods and services from human dominated landscapes.This Special Issue includes articles produced as the result of a conference held in Panama City, Panama in January 2010 with the goal to summarize the state of knowledge of native species reforestation and associated ecosystems services in Mesoamerica. The introduction concludes with a call for continued research, including a mechanistic understanding of tree interactions with the biophysical environment in order to advance or knowledge of ecosystem services and their interactions. Results from these and other studies aimed at socioeconomic aspects of reforestation are critical to land use planning.     

森林生态系统服务功能评估研究进展

森林生态系统是陆地生态系统的主体,具有涵养水源、保育土壤、固碳释氧、积累营养物质、净化大气环境、森林保护、生物多样性保护和森林游憩等多种服务功能。近年来,随着生态环境的日益恶化,森林生态系统服务功能研究已经成为生态学研究的前言和热点。本文基于国内外森林生态系统服务功能评估的研究成果,回顾了森林生态系统服务功能评估进展,对森林生态系统服务功能分类、评估方法进行概述,进而探讨森林生态系统服务功能评估的发展趋势。