Payments for Environmental Services (PES)

What are Payments for Environmental Services?

The Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) has developed Payments for Environmental Services (PES), an innovative performance-based funding mechanism.

Designed to promote sustainable agricultural and forestry practices in Central Africa and to preserve the Congo Basin's precious forest ecosystems, PES schemes reward rural stakeholders who adopt environmentally-friendly land-use techniques. In return for the ecosystem services they preserve, these stakeholders receive direct payments.

Ready for large-scale deployment, PES focuses on six key activities to preserve forests and support local communities: agroforestry, reforestation, perennial crops, regeneration, sustainable forest management and conservation.

Why PSE?

With its 234 million hectares of forest, the Congo Basin is the second largest tropical forest in the world after the Amazon. This forest is home to immense natural resources and plays a crucial role in preserving the environment and combating climate change.

Despite some stabilisation, deforestation and forest degradation in Central Africa remain alarming, with an annual loss of more than one million hectares of forest.  Unlike in other tropical regions, deforestation in Central Africa is mainly due to small-scale activities practised by local communities, such as slash-and-burn agriculture and small-scale logging. These practices lead to the irreversible degradation of forest ecosystems, with long-term consequences for biodiversity and climate.

To reverse this trend and improve the long-term prospects for protecting Central Africa's forests, alternatives to current practices need to be developed. This is the whole point of PES schemes, which make it possible to translate global commitments to protect the climate and biodiversity into concrete action at local level.

How does it work?

Based on contracts, PES directly remunerate rural stakeholders who adopt sustainable agricultural practices, according to verified performance (measurable results).

To ensure efficient and transparent management, the PES mechanism of CAFI relies on a centralised information system. This system uses cutting-edge technologies such as mobile data collection, online remote sensing and mobile payments. This approach not only makes it possible to monitor results accurately and geographically, but also to reduce costs and involve local communities more closely in the management of their natural resources.

PES schemes can be established both on a small scale, by individuals or families, and on a large scale, by local communities. Payment terms are adjusted according to the size of the beneficiary group and the specific objectives of the project.

Watch more on our dedicated PES Playlist HERE

 

Link to CAFI Drive - Payments for Environmental Services (PES)

Link to CAFI Drive - Payments for Environmental Services (PES) , 19 Sep 2024

19 Sep 2024