Title
An assessment of adherence to basic ecological principles by payments for ecosystem service projects
Author(s)
Prager, C. M.;Varga, A.;Olmsted, P.;Ingram, J.C.;Cattau, M.;Freund, C.;Wynn-Grant, R.;Naeem, S.
Published
2016
Publisher
Conservation Biology
Abstract
Programs and projects employing payments for ecosystem service (PES) interventions achieve their objectives by linking buyers and sellers of ecosystem services. Although PES projects have become popular conservation and development interventions, their adherence to basic ecological principles, which may be essential to the long-term provisioning of a service, may vary considerably. The scientific design and implementation of a PES initiative is critical to project success given that a PES intervention is strongly influenced by the ecology of the system in which it is embedded. To assess this variability, we conducted a quantitative assessment of the degree to which a global set of PES projects adhered to four ecological principles perceived to be broadly fundamental to PES initiatives. These principles are (1) the collection of baseline data, (2) the identification of a specific threat to an ecosystem service, (3) the use of a monitoring plan, and (4) an attention to ecosystem dynamics or the formation of an adaptive management plan – basic scientific considerations for any project focused on ecosystem management or conservation. Our assessment is based on 118 PES projects distributed across three markets – biodiversity, carbon and water – as these encompass the most common ecosystem service transactions. We found a widespread lack of adherence to ecological principles that is largely independent of the type of owners/stewards of a service, inclusion of environmental or socioeconomic co-benefits, spatial extent, and/or project budget; however, we found that projects in the carbon sector and projects financed by public-private partnerships demonstrated a greater degree of adherence to ecological principles. These findings suggest, at this critical phase in the rapid growth of PES projects, coupled with concerns regarding this growing popularity, that fundamental ecological principles be imbedded in project design in an effort to ensure PES project viability and sustainability. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
Keywords
PES;carbon;biodiversity;water;ecological principles
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