Abstract

This paper considers how agri-environment schemes under the Common Agricultural Policy could be adapted to derive a higher return of ecosystem services, by spatially targeting the services most valued by society and providing incentives for cross-boundary management of certain ecosystem services at catchment or wider spatial scales. The paper reviews evidence that spatially targeted, outcome-based payments may be more economically efficient than current approaches, but identifies a number of challenges, including: scientific uncertainty; pricing of ecosystem services; timing of payments; increased risk to land managers; compliance with World Trade Organisation regulations; and barriers to cross-boundary collaboration in the management of ecosystem services at habitat, catchment or landscape scales. Options are reviewed to overcome these challenges, including: the use of pressure-response functions and modelling approaches to establish causal links between management and ecosystem service delivery and reduce the costs of monitoring; non-market valuation techniques to set prices for ecosystem service delivery; insurance schemes; combining funding from public and private Payment for Ecosystem Service schemes; and options to facilitate cross-boundary management of ecosystem services. Using examples from UK peatlands and the Welsh Glastir agri-environment scheme, the paper suggests ways to link payments for management inputs more effectively to the provision of ecosystem services. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Ecosystem services; Agri-environment schemes; UK; Peatland; Collaboration; Spatial targeting

Published in

Ecosystem Services
2014, Volume: 9, pages: 44-53
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2014.06.008

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/87922