CHAPTER 6
Bio-cultural Community Protocols in the
Context of Payment for Ecosystem Services
Johanna von Braun
1
1. Introduction
Since the emergence of the concept of Payment for Ecosystem
existence of institutions that facilitate PES schemes; and the
Services (PES), a vast array of literature has surfaced analysing
danger of PES schemes generating perverse incentives such
its potential for promoting conservation whilst enabling
as provoking a threat to an ecosystem in order to be
livelihoods. At a time when nearly two-thirds of the provisioning,
subsequently integrated into a PES scheme.
regulating, supporting, and cultural services provided by the
environment on which human well-being depends are
2
In this chapter, we explore a further group of associated
declining, PES is being celebrated as an economic model
challenges relating to the implementation of PES schemes in
that integrates environmental externalities into the market.
community-based settings. While the concept of PES is not
At the same time, however, experts warn against the many
based on a specific legal framework that gives certain rights
challenges that are in place in order to make PES work in practice.
to indigenous peoples and local communities (ILCs), some of
the challenges ILCs face when engaging in PES schemes are
The list of challenges put forward is long, and includes: the
remarkably similar to examples that we reference elsewhere
difficulty of putting an economic value on ecosystem services;
in this book. We suggest that bio-cultural community protocols
the required level of detailed scientific understanding of the
(BCPs) can play an important role in addressing some of these
nature of these services and their impact; the potentially
challenges while ensuring an appropriate integration of
prohibitive transaction and start-up costs; the necessity of the
communities into PES schemes.
2. PES Schemes
2.1 Background
with the environment as a functional unit. Essentially, ESS
3
are “processes which support human life.” The Millennium
Ecosystem Services (ESS) are the benefits that humans obtain
Ecosystem Assessment classifies ESS into four main categories:
from their environment, consisting of all plants, animals and
provisioning services (such as wood, food and water),
microorganisms in their surroundings and their interactions
regulating services (such as water quality and
1.
2.
3.
Johanna von Braun, PhD, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Unit on IPR Research and Policy, University of Cape Town and Associate,
Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment.
Markets for Ecosystem Services: A Potential Tool for Multilateral Environmental Agreements by Anantha Kumar Duraiappah, IISD, 2007.
Hemholtz Centre for Environmental Research, 2008, BESS – Biological Ecosystem Services, from last visited 2 June 2009.
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