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Payment for Environmental Services (PES)Case study in Luang Prabang province, Lao PDR

Phonexay Sengsoulychanh, Claire Mousquès, Juliette Cuny, Oloth S t h h Ol Vi i k Oli i Rib l i d Al i Pi t*Sengtaheuanghoung, Olga Vigiak, Olivier Ribolzi and Alain Pierret*IRD-IWMI-NAFRI, UR Solutions, c/o Ambassade de France, BP 06, Vientiane, Lao PDR*corresponding author: alain.pierret@ird.fr

Outline of presentationBackground on Payment for Environmental Services (PES)

Presentation of case study• the catchment• the survey

Results and conclusions

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Modified Wunder (2005):

PES is a mechanism by which:

What is a PES? A definition

1. service user(s) pay,2. service provider(s),3. to provide a well-defined service (or land use that provides it) 4. in a conditional and5. voluntary transaction

Focus on services that bring benefits off-site

The wide range of compensation made to the providers, of ecosystem

What is a PES? Another definition

services.

Essential defining element of PES:

services are provided voluntarily and compensation is contingent on service provision.

Scherr et al. (2006)

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PES: general principle

Land usebefore

Modified land usebe o e

PESa d use

with PES

Water services

Supply of services:land use upstream can affect the Quantity, Quality and Timing of water flows

Land use in Upper catchmentProvider(s) of ES

Q y g

Demand for services:Possible beneficiaries:•Domestic water use•Fisheries•Recreation

Downstream communitiesUser(s) of ES

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Study area: Houay Xon catchment

2,5 km

Photo G. Lestrelin

Cuny (2007)

Villages boundaries in the Houay Xon catchment

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Survey design and implementation

S l f 67 l i t i dSample of 67 people interviewed

Sample represented the 5 main categories of water users: • upland farmers,• downstream farmers, • gardeners, • trades people,• villagers (domestic use of water only)

Not all categories are represented equally

All these interviewees were:

potential buyers and suppliers of water services since they participate in water extraction, transformation and discharge

A questionnaire was designed to document interviewees'

• socio-economical background and that of their families,

Survey design and implementation

• their awareness of water flow and quality changes,

• their perception of the causes behind these changes,

• their ability and willingness to participate in a payment scheme,

• their understanding of institutional and governmental support

This original data set was combined with pre-existing information and biophysical data monitored by IRD since 1991

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Diffuse pollution

Point source pollution

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Characteristics of the communities

Observed water usage

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Perception of water use

Dissolved oxygen

High population densityAverage population densityRemarkable points

Cuny (2007); Sengsoulichanh (2007),

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Accountability and Willingness-to-Pay (WTP)

Complex water use relationshipsin the Houay Xon watershed

Concept of user vs supplier is poorly suited to the situationWater extraction and contamination are diffuse along the stream Lack of relationship b/w the location of users and water uses

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Water services

Supply of services:land use upstream can affect the Quantity, Quality and Timing of water flows

Land use in Upper catchmentProvider(s) of ES

Q y g

Demand for services:Possible beneficiaries:•Domestic water use•Fisheries•Recreation

Downstream communitiesUser(s) of ES

Current land allocation system:

Some important issues identified by the study (1/2)

Current land allocation system:

=> virtually impossible for farmers to alter land use(National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy, in NAFRI, 2005)

Obvious contradiction with a basic principle of the PES

=> It must be possible to alter land use so as to ensure delivery of ES

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Some important issues identified by the study (2/2)

The population relocation policy initiated in the 1970’s by the GoL (Lestrelin et al., 2006), also compromises the immediate success of a PES scheme:

As a side effect of this policy, displaced populations did not fully bond with their new environment

=> limited awareness of environmental issues and unsustainable use of the natural resource base by the community, naturally leading to a lack of WTP for ES among many

IRD-IWMI work clearly established that alternative farming practices and careful management of sensitive areas (e.g. riparian areas) opens new avenues for the improvement of

Tentative conclusions (1/2)

p ) p pwater quality by reducing sediment delivery

(Van Breusegem, 2005; Valentin et al., 2006; van der Helm, 2006)

WTP within the sampled population ~USD 0.3/mth/household

if put in practice through a PESpu p ac ce oug a S

=> would suffice to abate significantly the negative impact of soil erosion on water quality.

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Tentative conclusion (2/2)

However, at the whole catchment scale, this would not warrant good water quality as it would not be enough to maintain the waste collection system essential to abate the observed distributed contamination of the stream.

Acknowledgements to:The Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research(CGIAR) as part of the Challenge Program for Water and Food(CPWF), PES in the Mekong Region Project, grant 025-01-01-( ) g g j gMUL-VT

The Soil Survey and Land Classification Centre (SSLCC) of theNational Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI)and the Northern Agriculture and Forestry Research Centre(NAFReC) in Lao P.D.R.

The Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC)

The National University of Laos (NUoL)

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domo arigato gozaimas!

Perception of water use

Population seem to rely on 3 main water sourcesHouay Xon has relatively low importance

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Approach designed in accordance with guidelines of the FAO electronic forum on payment schemes for environmental services in watersheds (FAO-REDLACH, 2004),

Perspective for change

Overall, population increases rapidly=> pressure on environment likely to increase

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Perspective for change

The relative proportion of income derived from agriculture has dramatically decreased over recentyears : how is that going to influence the WTP?