This thesis examines the feasibility of economic incentives for reforestation, with improved water quality being one potential benefit, in the Fond D’or watershed of Saint Lucia. Population growth, economic development, and the onset of climate change have decreased the environmental quality in Small Island Developing State (SIDS) while increasing risk to the islands’ water security. The unique topography and geology of Caribbean island nations contribute to the challenges of managing freshwater resources. The governments of SIDS often lack the human and financial resources to provide potable water for their citizens, as well as to monitor and enforce environmental regulations limiting land use in watersheds. Therefore, a new approach to watershed management in Saint Lucia is imperative for the provision of valuable ecosystem services at the local, regional, and global scales. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) are a promising approach to the protection and maintenance of public ecosystem services where there is little incentive for private landowners to provide them. The first article explores household willingness-to-pay (WTP) for reforestation in Fond D’or watershed. The contingent valuation method was used to obtain residents’ WTP for a hypothetical scenario in which an increase in water users’ fees are used to fund a program where farmers in the upper watershed are compensated for taking land near water sources out of agricultural production for reforestation. The findings from 294 household surveys provide a description of the state of water quality and quantity in the Fond D’or, domestic water uses and sources, as well as attitudes and opinions about current water service. Bivariate analyses were performed to identify underlying factors that influence WTP, revealing that increased WTP is not a result of higher education and income. Rather, residence in a particular community group likely influences opinions about water, ultimately shaping WTP. Lastly, I discuss WTP in terms of its potential contribution to a PES scheme in Saint Lucia; WTP by local beneficiaries represents one potential funding source for PES mechanisms as well as public support for environmental improvement programs. The second article describes a methodological approach to constructing a PES scheme in the Fond D’or watershed. Of the five environmental policy approaches— prescription, penalties, property rights, persuasion, and payments—payment is likely to be the most feasible method to influence private land management decisions for the provision of ecosystem services for the public good. This article draws upon existing PES schemes for hydrological services around the globe to provide key lessons for expanding the use of the instrument to Saint Lucia. I apply these lessons to the social, political, and institutional context of Saint Lucia, identifying opportunities for and challenges to developing local or regional payment schemes for ecosystem services in the Fond D'or watershed. I outline the steps to constructing a PES and recommend further research to Saint Lucian policymakers.

No description available.

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is a global carbon trading program intent on mitigating or reversing carbon emissions from forestry in the global south. REDD+ was negotiated at the 2005 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and is coordinated by the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF), administered by the World Bank Group. In this project, I explore REDD+ activity in Costa Rica, drawing on Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality. Costa Rica became a participant in the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility in July of 2008. Since then, indigenous peoples throughout the country have contested the program. This project is a single-case study of the Bribri contestation of REDD+ schemes, one of the larger indigenous communities in Costa Rica. Bribri argue that REDD+ disrespects their worldview and further endangers their local rights to land and forestry. This project argues that REDD+ and Bribri have different perceptions of nature, enabling disagreement on REDD+ goals. Whereas REDD+ perceives nature as commodifiable for the purposes of neoliberal climate policies, Bribri express a spiritual, harmonious relationship with nature. I conclude by noting that REDD+ can pose negative implications for indigenous life and culture. This is not only because REDD+ draws external and domestic actors to land and forestry for incentive-based purposes. But also because REDD+ defines 'rightful behavior' among forestry resources, challenging indigenous conceptions of environmental management. However, the Bribri are resisting REDD+ imposition and, particularly, the program's external governing of indigenous behavior amongst forests. / Master of Arts

The UNFCCC initiated mechanism Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is an important policy instrument for combating climate change, using payments to create economic incentives for developing countries to preserve their forests. However, there is a need for closer scrutiny of whether the mechanism is able to generate its intended outputs and outcomes. The study assessed REDD+ productivity performance in collaborative governance using an instrumental case study of a Collaborative Governance Regime (CGR), the CarBi project in Vietnam. The assessment was based on Emerson and Nabatchi’s productivity performance matrix encompassing three units of analysis - the Participant Organisations, the CGR and the Target Goals. The study was conducted as a Minor Field Study (MFS) using in-depth interviews, complemented with official documents. The findings showed that progress was made in achieving target goals such as forest restoration and enhanced biodiversity, but that REDD+ was not adapted to suit the CGR’s need for stable payments and was not financially feasible to implement in a conservation focused project. Instead, outputs and outcomes were sustained as a result of the transition to the national Payment for Forest Ecosystem Services (PFES). However, the REDD+ safeguards, supporting the inclusion of local communities and indigenous peoples, were lost in the transition and PFES reliance on funding from hydropower dams posed both environmental and social challenges to CGR sustainability.

Global climate change is one of the defining issues of the 21st century. The phenomenon of natural climate variation being pushed beyond normal ranges has been fueled largely by industrial activities and those which support them (i.e. land-use change and the over-exploitation of natural resources). The urgency is well established with reports demonstrating an increased occurrence of rare, highly damaging weather events, and shifts in the natural range of species. The necessity of action on climate change has resulted in the development of novel global initiatives designed to address the problem across global and regional scales. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is emblematic of this new wave of conservation strategy. It brings together parties which are often seen as opposed on environmental issues in collaborative environmental practise. This thesis explores the development of REDD+ as an effective and equitable solutions to this problem. REDD+ is a policy architecture designed for global deployment, the success of which will depend largely upon the engagement and involvement of local community groups. Community forest management (CFM) may inform the REDD+ design process, and enhance both land-use strategies by way of synergy. The pathway to that point is, however, uncertain and marred with potential pitfalls. This thesis uses the instructive and critical lens of political ecology to assess the potential for integrating greater CFM elements into the REDD+ policy structure. It explores how the narratives of CFM and REDD+ clash at discursive levels, while also identifying elements of each which may make them mutually beneficial. The thesis finds that much of the conflict between positions on REDD+ are the result of contrasting environmental understandings, some of which are informed by negative experiences with past environmental conservation initiatives. Greater community-centric attributes may assist in improving the local and regional acceptability of REDD+ projects by appealing to the “alternative” values of forest-dependent peoples. Some suggested policy modifications are made to improve the overall design of REDD+ to be inclusive of the concerns of forest user groups, and potential areas for future research projects are discussed. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-01-28 14:57:55.951

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Timothy J. Dalton / Given the changing climate paradigm, food and poverty are likely to become more severe in Africa. Farmers can adapt to climate change, especially through conservation agriculture. This study relies on a minimum data approach developed by Antle and Valvidia (2006) to estimate the spatial distribution of opportunity cost for farmers in switching to conservation practices in Wa, Ghana. It assesses the economic feasibility of several scenarios that rely on production techniques currently studied by the CRSP SANREM project. We also explore the possibility that these practices can provide income from carbon sequestration payments implemented by the Kyoto protocol’s Clean Development Mechanisms. The methodology uses data from both a recent survey and information from secondary sources to assess simulated management practices. Results indicate that all the simulated management practices would theoretically benefit farmers. In fact, adoption rates for the four scenarios range from 52% to 65%, even without any carbon payment. Adding a proportional payment to the amount of carbon sequestered with these practices does not seem enough to influence farmers switch to switch to alternative scenarios. The analysis shows that these results hold even when additional fixed costs to adopt these practices are included. This case study demonstrates the usefulness of the minimum data approach in estimating the economic potential of conservation practices in Ghana. These production techniques may represent environmentally-friendly alternatives that are more profitable for farmers than current practices. The next step in assessing implementation of such practices would require studying farmers’ willingness to adopt these production systems, given their ex-ante economic returns.

Na atualidade, os serviços ambientais podem ser descritos como as atividades antrópicas que auxiliam no aumento dos benefícios ao meio ambiente, enquanto os serviços ecossistêmicos são processos ecossistêmicos capazes de fornecer sustentação à vida sendo dois temas mundialmente pesquisados. Neste sentido o pagamento por práticas que forneçam a melhoria da qualidade ambiental conhecidas como pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) têm surgido e avançado no Brasil nos últimos anos, embora ainda não possuam regulamentação legal específica. No primeiro capítulo procurou-se analisar os projetos de lei (PLs) em trâmite no Congresso Nacional PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Projeto de Lei do Senado (PLS) 276/2013 e PL 312/2015 com relação à adicionalidade, princípios do direito ambiental e teorias econômicas que regulamentam o PSA no Brasil. No segundo capítulo foi realizada a estimativa de serviços ecossistêmicos de biodiversidade de abelhas e carbono na região do Xingu na Amazônia brasileira, onde utilizou-se a equação alométrica para cálculo da biomassa e índices de diversidade para avaliar a diversidade de plantas e abelhas, e verificou-se a possível relação entre a diversidade de plantas e abelhas e o carbono estocado na vegetação para avaliar a relação dos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na região. Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama sobre a legislação atual de PSA no Brasil e um estudo de caso de quantificação de adicionalidade ambiental provida pelos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na área do Rio Xingu, no estado do Pará. Embora os estudos sobre serviços ecossistêmicos e as funções do ecossistema tenham surgido há muito tempo, pouco tem sido estudado sobre a adicionalidade ambiental destes serviços. Logo, como descrito no art. 5 do Paris Agreement da COP 21, as Partes são encorajadas a realizar pagamentos através de incentivos e políticas sobre redução de emissões de desmatamento e degradação florestal no papel da conservação na gestão sustentável das florestas, enquanto que na Contribuição Nacionalmente Determinada (INDC) o Brasil incluiu como uma das metas a implementação de atividades de REDD+ e pagamento por seus resultados representando possíveis avanços para o PSA em nível nacional e mundial. / Environmental services described as human activities that help to enhance the benefits to the environment and ecosystem services on ecosystem processes capable of providing support to life are two highly specific topics discussed on all the world. Payment for environmental services (PES) have emerged and advanced in Brazil in recent years, though it is still not regulated. In the first chapter we tried to analyze the Law\'s project (PL) in current analisys on National Brazilian Congress PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Federal Senate (PLS) PLS 276/2013 and 312/2015 regarding additionality principles of environmental law and economic theories involved in PLs. Although studies on ecosystem services and ecosystem functions, have arisen for over fifty years ago, few has been studied about the provision of these services together through environmental additionality. In the second chapter was held on ecosystem services and carbon estimate bee biodiversity in the Xingu endemic region of the Brazilian Amazon. For this we used the allometric equation for calculating the biomass and diversity index to evaluate the diversity of plants and bees, there had a relationship between the diversity of plants and bees and the carbon stocked in the vegetation to assess the relationship of ecosystem services of carbon and biodiversity in the region. Soon, as defined by the Art. 5 of the Paris Agreement of COP 21, Parties are encouraged to make payments through incentives and policies on reduction of deforestation and forest degradation emissions in the role of conservation in sustainable forest management while in INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution), Brazil included as goals from other actions the implementation of REDD + activities and payment by results reprensenting major advances can be made to the PSA at the national and global levels. So this paper presents an overview of the current project legislation on PSE in Brazil and a case study to quantify environmental business as usual provided by the ecosystem service of carbon and biodiversity in the Xingu River area in the state of Pará as contemporary and integrated assessment on the topic involving environmental additionality.

Esta dissertação analisa o Instrumento de Comando e Controle da Política Ambiental do Estado do Mato Grosso - o SLAPR, através dos pilares da Economia Ecológica (escala, alocação e distribuição). O SLAPR: Sistema de Licenciamento Ambiental em Propriedades Rurais tem como um dos seus objetivos reduzir o desmatamento ilegal em propriedades particulares. Por meio de imagens de satélite e do uso de ferramenta do Sistema de Informação Geográfica (SIG), pôde-se concluir que este Instrumento não é eficaz. Este trabalho discute um instrumento Econômico - o Pagamento pelo Serviço Ecossistêmico (PSE) carbono, pelo desmatamento evitado dos biomas amazônicos no âmbito do Protocolo de Kyoto para os proprietários detentores de 80% ou mais de cobertura florestal em suas reservas legais. Ressalta-se que esta é uma política second best, visto que se propõe a tratar da problemática ambiental aliando Instrumentos de Comando e Controle (estimando-se a escala) com um Instrumento Econômico. O mecanismo de PSE para as reservas legais nos biomas amazônicos no estado do Mato Grosso tem como princípios: 1 -definição clara do serviço comercializado, 2-verificação da oferta e da demanda, 3-o desenvolvimento da valoração e pagamento deste serviço e 4- desenvolvimento de uma rede institucional onde haja uma instituição gestora, um seguro, uma agência reguladora e uma instituição certificadora e acreditadora. / The focus of this dissertation is the system adopted by the State of Mato Grosso [Brazil] for managing and taking command and control of its environmental policies through the pillars of Ecological Economics, i.e. scale, allocation and distribution. One of the goals of SLAPR [\"System for Environmental Licensing of Rural Properties\", for short] is to reduce illegal deforesting in private properties. However, the use of satellite images and the application of SIG - \"Geographic Information System\" have led to the conclusion that SLAPR is not an efficient tool. This essay therefore discusses a new economic tool: PSE -\"Payment for Eco-Systemic Service - Carbon\", in exchange for prevented deforesting of Amazonian Biomes, within the scope of the Kyoto Protocol. It should be emphasized that this is a \"second best\" policy, since its proposal is to deal with environmental issues by combining an \'Economic Instrument\' with \'Command-and-Control Instrument, in order to estimate the scale in question. The following are the principles of PSE mechanisms for legal forest reserves within the Amazonian Biomes of the State of Mato Grosso: 1) a clear definition of the ecosystem services rendered; 2) offer-and-demand verification; 3) development of improved value-and-payment procedures for rendered services; and 4) development of an institutional net that includes a managing agency, a regulating agency, a certifying agency and an accrediting agency.

Na atualidade, os serviços ambientais podem ser descritos como as atividades antrópicas que auxiliam no aumento dos benefícios ao meio ambiente, enquanto os serviços ecossistêmicos são processos ecossistêmicos capazes de fornecer sustentação à vida sendo dois temas mundialmente pesquisados. Neste sentido o pagamento por práticas que forneçam a melhoria da qualidade ambiental conhecidas como pagamento por serviços ambientais (PSA) têm surgido e avançado no Brasil nos últimos anos, embora ainda não possuam regulamentação legal específica. No primeiro capítulo procurou-se analisar os projetos de lei (PLs) em trâmite no Congresso Nacional PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Projeto de Lei do Senado (PLS) 276/2013 e PL 312/2015 com relação à adicionalidade, princípios do direito ambiental e teorias econômicas que regulamentam o PSA no Brasil. No segundo capítulo foi realizada a estimativa de serviços ecossistêmicos de biodiversidade de abelhas e carbono na região do Xingu na Amazônia brasileira, onde utilizou-se a equação alométrica para cálculo da biomassa e índices de diversidade para avaliar a diversidade de plantas e abelhas, e verificou-se a possível relação entre a diversidade de plantas e abelhas e o carbono estocado na vegetação para avaliar a relação dos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na região. Esta dissertação apresenta um panorama sobre a legislação atual de PSA no Brasil e um estudo de caso de quantificação de adicionalidade ambiental provida pelos serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono e biodiversidade na área do Rio Xingu, no estado do Pará. Embora os estudos sobre serviços ecossistêmicos e as funções do ecossistema tenham surgido há muito tempo, pouco tem sido estudado sobre a adicionalidade ambiental destes serviços. Logo, como descrito no art. 5 do Paris Agreement da COP 21, as Partes são encorajadas a realizar pagamentos através de incentivos e políticas sobre redução de emissões de desmatamento e degradação florestal no papel da conservação na gestão sustentável das florestas, enquanto que na Contribuição Nacionalmente Determinada (INDC) o Brasil incluiu como uma das metas a implementação de atividades de REDD+ e pagamento por seus resultados representando possíveis avanços para o PSA em nível nacional e mundial. / Environmental services described as human activities that help to enhance the benefits to the environment and ecosystem services on ecosystem processes capable of providing support to life are two highly specific topics discussed on all the world. Payment for environmental services (PES) have emerged and advanced in Brazil in recent years, though it is still not regulated. In the first chapter we tried to analyze the Law\'s project (PL) in current analisys on National Brazilian Congress PL 792/2007, PL 5.487/2009, Federal Senate (PLS) PLS 276/2013 and 312/2015 regarding additionality principles of environmental law and economic theories involved in PLs. Although studies on ecosystem services and ecosystem functions, have arisen for over fifty years ago, few has been studied about the provision of these services together through environmental additionality. In the second chapter was held on ecosystem services and carbon estimate bee biodiversity in the Xingu endemic region of the Brazilian Amazon. For this we used the allometric equation for calculating the biomass and diversity index to evaluate the diversity of plants and bees, there had a relationship between the diversity of plants and bees and the carbon stocked in the vegetation to assess the relationship of ecosystem services of carbon and biodiversity in the region. Soon, as defined by the Art. 5 of the Paris Agreement of COP 21, Parties are encouraged to make payments through incentives and policies on reduction of deforestation and forest degradation emissions in the role of conservation in sustainable forest management while in INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution), Brazil included as goals from other actions the implementation of REDD + activities and payment by results reprensenting major advances can be made to the PSA at the national and global levels. So this paper presents an overview of the current project legislation on PSE in Brazil and a case study to quantify environmental business as usual provided by the ecosystem service of carbon and biodiversity in the Xingu River area in the state of Pará as contemporary and integrated assessment on the topic involving environmental additionality.

Questões ambientais e sócio-econômicas nem sempre coexistem de forma conciliada, o que pode opor a conservação da biodiversidade, a regulação climática, a produção e qua¬li¬da¬de da água, com outros fatores como a produção de energia, alimentos e fibras, e a geração de empregos. No Brasil, o código florestal prescreve as Áreas de Preservação Permanente como forma de garantir a manutenção dos Serviços Ambientais (SA), e os projetos de Pagamento de Serviços Ambientais (PSA) estão surgindo como forma de recompensar os provedores de SA, como o Projeto Conservador das Águas, a primeira experiência municipal brasileira, em andamento no Município de Extrema, MG. Apesar dos esforços, ainda são escassos os estudos que quantifiquem os benefícios econômicos dos serviços ambientais, fundamental para que estes sejam incluídos nas tomadas de decisões. O objetivo do trabalho foi quantificar e valorar os Serviços Ambientais hidrológicos da recuperação da vegetação, na sub-bacia do Ribeirão das Posses, em Extrema, através da modelagem ambiental. Utilizando o modelo InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) foram simuladas a vazão e o fluxo de sedimentos em um cenário anterior e posterior ao Projeto Conservador das Águas, um cenário sem práticas de conservação (Antropizado), e em cenários que priorizassem o reflorestamento ao longo das margens dos rios (reflorestamento ripário) ou nas encostas (reflorestamento das áreas íngremes). Os Serviços Ambientais foram estimados a partir do custo evitado da redução do tratamento de água e dragagem (custos off-site) e na erosão (custos on-site), em função da diferença entre os cenários, e foram comparados com o Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais e o custo de oportunidade, equivalente aos rendimentos da pecuária extensiva. Verificou-se que as estradas geraram 29% da perda de solos na sub-bacia, e as barraginhas, uma das práticas conservacionistas adotadas pelo projeto, diminuíram em 4% os sedimentos na foz da sub-bacia, e o reflorestamento de espécies nativas em 5%. Juntas, as duas práticas contribuíram para 9% de redução. A redução do fluxo de sedimentos do Pós-Projeto em relação ao cenário Antropizado foi de 40%. O reflorestamento ripário foi mais eficiente na redução de fluxo de sedimentos do que o reflorestamento das áreas íngremes e gerou maior redução nos custos de tratamento de água e de dragagem. Enquanto um reflorestamento ripário de apenas 5 m reduziu em 23% o fluxo de sedimentos, um reflorestamento nas áreas íngremes com a mesma área de floresta (áreas com declividade acima de 60%) reduziu o fluxo de sedimentos em 2%. Para um reflorestamento ripário de 30 m, o mesmo foi reduzido em 50%. Por outro lado, o reflorestamento das áreas íngremes foi mais eficiente na redução da perda de solos, e portanto, obteve maior redução dos custos on-site, pela redução dos prejuízos causados pela erosão. Os resultados mostram a importância de projetos como o Conservador das Águas, não só na melhoria das condições ambientais, mas principalmente na conservação de florestas nativas. Os pequenos agricultores são uns dos principais beneficiários devido à melhoria das condições sociais e ambientais, embora não sejam os únicos, uma vez que os benefícios vão além dos limites da sub-bacia, e acreditamos que os esforços para a preservação devem ser com¬par¬ti¬lha-dos pelos beneficiários indiretos, que no caso da sub-bacia do Ribeirão das Posses, seriam os usuários da água do Sistema Cantareira. A nossa sugestão para esta contribuição é de pelo menos 28% do Pagamento por Serviços Ambientais por área preservada. / Environmental and socioeconomic issues not always coexist in a reconciled manner, which may oppose biodiversity conservation, climate regulation, water quality and production, to other factors such as energy production, food and fiber, and job creation. In Brazil, the Forest Code prescribes the Permanent Preservation Areas in order to guarantee the maintenance of Environmental Services (ES), and the Payment for Environmental Services project (PES) are emerging as a way to reward the providers of ES, as Conservador das Águas project, the first Brazilian municipal initiative, underway in Extrema Municipality. Despite the efforts, there are few studies that quantify the economic benefits of ecosystem services essential for them to be part of decision-making process. The objective of this work was to quantify and assess the hydrological Environmental Services in the recovery of vegetation in Posses subbasin in Extrema, through environmental modeling. Using InVEST model (Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs) we simulated sediment and streamflow in a scenario before Conservador das Águas project (Pre-Project), after (Post-Project), another with no soil conservation practices (Anthropized), and others which prioritize reforestation of riparian areas (riparian reforestation) or in slopes (reforestation of steep areas). The Environmental Services were estimated based on the avoided cost of reducing water treatment and dredging (off-site costs) and erosion (on-site costs), as functions of the difference between scenarios, and they were compared to the Payment for Environmental Services and the opportunity cost, equivalent to the extensive livestock income. It was found that the roads contributed to 29% of the total soil loss in the subbasin, and barraginhas, one of the conservation practices adopted by the project, decreased sediment flow in the river mouth by 4%, and reforestation of native species by 5%. Together, the two practices contributed to a reduction in 9%. The reduction of sediments flow in Post-Project scenario in relation to Anthropized was of 40%. Riparian reforestation was more efficient in the reduction of sediment flow than the reforestation of steep areas, what caused greater reduction in the costs of water treatment and dredging. While a 5 m riparian reforestation reduced sediment flow by 23%, reforestation in steep areas with the same area of forest (areas with slope above 60%) reduced sediment flow by 2%. For a 30 m of riparian strip of reforestation, it was reduced by 50%. On the other hand, reforestation of steep areas was more efficient in reducing soil loss, and so it presented greater reduction in on-site costs by reducing the losses caused by erosion. Results showed the importance of projects such as the Conservador das Águas, not only in the improvement of environmental conditions, but mainly in the conservation of native forests. The main beneficiaries of these projects are small farmers by improving social and environmental conditions, but the benefits go beyond the subbasin boundaries, and we believe that efforts to preserve must be shared by indirect beneficiaries, which in the case of Posses subbasin are the users of water from the Cantareira System. Our suggestion for this contribution is at least 28% of Payment for Environmental Services by preserved area.