Ecosystem services have traditionally been regarded as ‘free goods’ and there is a lack of incentives to protect them. Payments for Ecosystem Services attempt to rectify this, often through market mechanisms. The use of these schemes has become more widespread particularly in the USA and some developing countries.
By Gregory Valatin (Forest Research) and Jenna Coull (Forestry Commission).
Payments for Ecosystems Services – policy summary (PDF-910K)