Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 11/5/2007
Payments for Ecosystem Services– Issues and Pro-Poor Opportunities for Development Assistance
June 2007
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract
The emergence of the concept of payment for ecosystem services during the late 1990s has raised expectations among rural natural resource managers, local and national authorities, public utilities and donor organizations alike, that ecosystem conservation can be achieved through popular payments rather than through unpopular measures of command and control.
Late 2005, Danida asked researchers from the natural resources and poverty research unit at Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) to undertake a review of experiences to date regarding payments for ecosystem services with particular emphasis on identifying pro-poor options for development assistance support.
This report summarizes the main findings of this review, including a list of approximately 200 references collected as part of the study (Annex, also available at http:// www.diis.dk/graphics/_Staff/hmr/pes_literature_2007.pdf ), and identifies four main options for development assistance in support of pro-poor payments for ecosystem services.
