Selling Forest Environmental Services: Market-Based Mechanisms for Conservation and Development

The risks posed by forest destruction throughout the world are highly significant for all. Not only are forests a critical source of timber and non-timber forest products, but they provide environmental services that are the basis of life on Earth. However, only rarely do beneficiaries pay for the goods and services they experience, and there are severe consequences as a result for the poor and for the forests themselves. It has proved difficult to translate the theory of market-based approaches into practice. Based on extensive research and case studies of biodiversity conservation, watershed protected and carbon sequestration, this book demonstrates how payment systems can be established in practice, their effectiveness and their implications for the poor.

Stefano Pagiola is senior environmental economist in the Environment Department of the World Bank. Joshua Bishop is the director of the Environmental Economics Programme at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Natasha Landell-Mills is a research associate of the Environmental Programme at IIED.