Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations- FAO

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) from Agricultural Landscapes

Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA)FrançaisEspañol

Main markets

Clients of landscape aesthetics

The most important buyers of landscape beauty will likely be private tourist operators and related businesses, private recreational hunters, fishermen and park visitors.

In itself, the overall size of the market for landscape beauty and recreation services from agricultural landscapes seems likely to remain small if all buyer categories are taken into consideration. Payments to farming communities are likely to be geographically limited to those living in or adjacent to areas of high tourist attraction. In many developed countries, a sector of the tourism industry has formed around pastoral, agrarian landscapes and the beauty and activities these landscapes offer but a parallel industry has not yet formed in developing countries.

The most important buyers of landscape beauty and recreational services will likely be private tourist operators and related businesses, either directly or in aggregated groups working in a particular area of high scenic beauty. Private recreational hunters, fishermen, and private park visitors could also become buyers of landscape beauty and recreation services.

Table 3.9 - Size of Global Ecotourism (15)

Beginning in 1990s, ecotourism has been growing for about 20% - 34% per year; in 2004, ecotourism/nature tourism was growing globally three times faster than the tourism industry as a whole.

"Experiential" tourism-which encompasses ecotourism, nature, heritage, cultural, and soft adventure tourism, as well as sub-sectors such as rural and community tourism-is among the sectors expected to grow most quickly over the next two decades;

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Conservation International (CI) have indicated that most of tourism's expansion is occurring in and around the world's remaining natural areas.