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. 2013 Oct 8;110(41):16681-6.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1312324110. Epub 2013 Sep 3.

Benefits, costs, and livelihood implications of a regional payment for ecosystem service program

Hua Zheng  1 , Brian E Robinson, Yi-Cheng Liang, Stephen Polasky, Dong-Chun Ma, Feng-Chun Wang, Mary Ruckelshaus, Zhi-Yun Ouyang, Gretchen C Daily
Affiliations

Benefits, costs, and livelihood implications of a regional payment for ecosystem service program

Hua Zheng et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Despite broad interest in using payment for ecosystem services to promote changes in the use of natural capital, there are few expost assessments of impacts of payment for ecosystem services programs on ecosystem service provision, program cost, and changes in livelihoods resulting from program participation. In this paper, we evaluate the Paddy Land-to-Dry Land (PLDL) program in Beijing, China, and associated changes in service providers' livelihood activities. The PLDL is a land use conversion program that aims to protect water quality and quantity for the only surface water reservoir that serves Beijing, China's capital city with nearly 20 million residents. Our analysis integrates hydrologic data with household survey data and shows that the PLDL generates benefits of improved water quantity and quality that exceed the costs of reduced agricultural output. The PLDL has an overall benefit-cost ratio of 1.5, and both downstream beneficiaries and upstream providers gain from the program. Household data show that changes in livelihood activities may offset some of the desired effects of the program through increased expenditures on agricultural fertilizers. Overall, however, reductions in fertilizer leaching from land use change dominate so that the program still has a positive net impact on water quality. This program is a successful example of water users paying upstream landholders to improve water quantity and quality through land use change. Program evaluation also highlights the importance of considering behavioral changes by program participants.

Keywords: regional collaboration; social-ecological systems; sustainability; sustainable household livelihoods; watershed management.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Miyun Reservoir watershed. Beijing Municipality is the area within the red demarcation; the areas of the watershed outside this line are part of Hebei Province.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Assessment framework of the PLDL program.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Estimated water yield and nutrient changes due to the PLDL program.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Comparison of cost (C) and benefit (B) for ecosystem service providers, beneficiaries, and the total program. Costs and benefits that accrue to the different groups include farmers’ opportunity costs (OC), payments (P) and program implementation/transaction costs (TC), the value of water resources (WR), and the value of improved water quality (WQ). Each category’s cost–benefit ratio is displayed above.
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References

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