Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) can ensure the continual provision of ecosystem goods and services by providing wide-ranging benefits at a local and global scale. Significant investment and financial and non-financial incentives are required to support producers and landscape managers to restore and protect landscapes and forests. Payments for ecosystem services (PES) represent a potential mechanism for sustainable finance and improved landscape and ecosystem management that can support FLR activities. PES is a strategy that connects beneficiaries of ecosystem services to their ‘providers’,  who manage natural resources and landscapes. By compensating providers for the lost opportunity cost of unsustainable and degrading practices, PES aims at assuring more profitable protection and conservation of ecosystem services, which is more profitable than usual business. PES can also create benefits for smallholder producers and rural communities by generating value for their landscapes, diversifying income and supporting improved livelihoods.

PES is not, however, a ‘silver bullet’ for restoration and conservation of landscapes and forests. Its implementation is highly contextual and requires the consideration of complex social and ecological systems, well-designed incentives, open dialogue and supportive regulatory frameworks. Cross-sectoral coordination and supportive enabling environments are often essential when ensuring that PES can complement existing initiatives, government programs and private sector finance to provide incentives for sustainable practices to support FLR at scale.

From 9 to 12 September 2019, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) co-organized a first workshop in China to share the latest knowledge on the valuation of ecosystem services and establishment of PES and incentive mechanisms in countries involved in The Restoration Initiative (TRI). The workshop was meant to provide an increased understanding of opportunities available from PES and the potential to create incentive mechanisms to support FLR. Through case studies and practical sessions, the workshop aimed at highlighting both the potential benefits and challenges that may arise from the implementation of PES schemes on the ground.

The workshop was well attended with the participation of more than 40 people and representatives from Pakistan, Myanmar and China. Trainers came from the Research Centre for Eco-environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Economic Research Center of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Mac Gill University, UN Environment, IUCN and FAO.

The training approach included the logic of developing PES schemes, which enabled participants to follow the steps to establish PES and engage in exercises and discussions. The workshop started with an introduction to ecosystem services, valuation methodologies and how they relate to the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM). Participants discussed the financial resources required and already available in the context of their project sites, PES opportunities, and they mapped out a roadmap to establish a PES scheme and enable the implementation of FLR with the necessary financial support and provision of incentives.

On day one, participants began to identify the key ecosystem services that their project sites provide and potential providers and beneficiaries for these services.

On day two, participants were asked to identify what enabling conditions would be needed to support the development and implementation of PES and other incentive mechanisms for their project sites.

On day three, the field trip in Chengde City, Hebei Province, China enabled participants to visit three restoration sites at different stages of the FLR process: from the initial startup to the well-established restored site after several years. The visited sites demonstrated the national initiative to distribute resources through PES-like schemes.

• The first site demonstrated desertification control.

• The second site was under the project on the "Integrated Governance of Mountains, Water, Forests, Farmland and Lakes" which aims at promoting the comprehensive governance of the ecological environment in the county, improving its environmental carrying capacity and accelerating the construction of an ecological conservation function zone serving Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei provinces.

• The third site was the Mulan Paddock State Forest Management Bureau of Hebei Province which has actively introduced the concept of near-natural forestry cultivation and advanced forestry cultivation technologies from developed European forestry countries. Through continuous exploration and practice, it has developed a new scientific forestry system ,close to nature forestry as a guide, basin management as a layout, crop tree management, homogeneous management and transformation management as the main technical route.

The success of these Chinese cases has serves as great inspiration for many.

On day four, successful financing plans for FLR were discussed and prepared. Each country project summarized the key milestones needed to establish PES schemes in their project sites and other financial needs required to support the implementation of FLR.

This workshop can be considered a success. It enabled participants to apply each introduced concept and methodology in the context of their own projects and explore what would be necessary to introduce PES schemes in their project sites. Each team left with a clear plan on the next steps to develop a PES scheme and their financial plan for their TRI project.

Every team will be supported by the Global TRI project, under the FAO component, to implement the financial plan which has been developed during the workshop.

For more information contact: [email protected]

Mathilde Iweins (FAO) and Liu Jing (TRI)