Valuing, Implementing and Evaluating Payments for Ecosystems Services in rural West Africa

热带森林生态系统的丧失和退化及其对生态系统服务和生物多样性在各种尺度（从地方到全球）的相关影响已得到广泛认识。这些变化是人为的，受到一系列过程的驱动，其中最重要的是农业和木材开采。森林砍伐与人类发展息息相关。最近的证据表明，发展在森林砍伐后最初得到改善，但随后由于生态系统的持续退化而下降。这表明，可持续的长期发展与生态系统健康息息相关。西非的森林生态系统是这些依赖关系的缩影。据估计，大约1000万公顷的森林可能在20世纪消失，大约80%的原始森林现在是森林-农业生态系统。这些生态系统为2亿多人提供食物、燃料、纤维和一系列生态系统服务。森林的丧失和退化仍在继续，其主要原因是农业扩张和森林-农业生态系统的持续退化。这些毁林和生态系统退化的循环破坏了农村生计，造成贫困，并降低了林农生态系统提供关键生态系统服务的能力，如碳储存、清洁水和生物多样性保护。整个西非地区普遍认识到，一切照旧不是一种选择，而是迫切需要一种更可持续的解决方案来发展农村生计，同时解决农村贫困问题以及保护生态系统服务和生物多样性。这种认识正在推动政府、私营部门、民间社会和社区对生态系统服务支付（PES）计划的兴趣蓬勃发展。该区域正在发展若干PES试点项目。这些项目的具体重点各不相同，但它们都旨在通过发展和支持当地社区及相关结构来建立可持续发展计划，从而改善农村生计、减少贫困和保护林农生态系统。尽管这些试点项目具有明显的潜力，但仍面临一些挑战。首先，在支持任何PES计划所需的知识和理解方面存在重大差距。其次，个别的PES项目不可避免地相当孤立，因为没有机制来促进项目之间的知识和经验共享，或从区域外获取知识和经验。应对这两个挑战需要研究和能力建设相结合。我们的最终目标是发展知识、理解和能力，以支持西非现有和未来的PES项目，这些项目旨在同时解决农村贫困和生态系统保护问题。这将构成未来财团向ESPA申请的基础。然而，我们认识到，为了让我们做到这一点，需要在现有的南北和南南合作的基础上建立更多的南北和南南联系。首先，需要更多的南北联系，以便在跨学科框架内汇集所需的研究技能。第二，需要更多的南南联系，以便在PES试点项目之间分享知识和经验，并从该区域以外（即巴西）引进知识和经验。我们申请伙伴关系和项目发展赠款的目的是在西非的一个研讨会上解决这些需求，该研讨会将为拟议的项目制定研究、能力建设和实施议程；建立管理结构并制定影响计划。这将形成后续提案开发的基础。

The loss and degradation of tropical forest ecosystems and the associated impact on ecosystem services and biodiversity at a range of scales (from local to global) is widely recognised . These changes are anthropogenic, being driven by a range of processes the most important of which are agriculture and timber extraction. Deforestation is linked to human development. Recent evidence shows that development initially improves following deforestation, but then declines due to continuing ecosystem degradation . This shows that sustainable, long-term development is linked to ecosystem health. The forest ecosystems of West Africa epitomise these dependencies. Estimates suggest that about 10 million hectares of forest may have been lost in the 20th Century, and around 80% of the original forest is now a forest-agriculture ecosystem . These ecosystems provide food, fuel, fibre and a range of ecosystem services for over 200 million people. Forest loss and degradation is ongoing, being driven primarily by agricultural expansion and continuing degradation of forest-agriculture ecosystems. These cycles of deforestation and ecosystem degradation undermine rural livelihoods causing poverty , as well as reducing the capacity of forest-agriculture ecosystems to deliver key ecosystems services, such as carbon storage, clean water and biodiversity conservation. There is widespread recognition across the West African region that business-as-usual is not an option, but a more sustainable solution to the development of rural livelihoods is urgently required that simultaneously addresses the issues of rural poverty as well as the protection of ecosystem services and biodiversity. This recognition is fuelling burgeoning governmental, private sector, civil society and community interest in Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes. A number of pilot PES projects are developing across the region. The precise focus of these projects varies but all of them aim to establish PES schemes through the development and support of local communities and associated structures, thereby improving rural livelihoods, reducing poverty, and protecting forest-agriculture ecosystems. Despite their evident potential, these pilot projects face a number of challenges. First, there are significant gaps in knowledge and understanding required to underpin any PES scheme. Second, individual PES projects are inevitably rather isolated because there is no mechanism to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and experience across projects, or access knowledge and experience from outside the region. Addressing both challenges requires a combination of research and capacity building. Our ultimate aim is to develop the knowledge, understanding and capacity to support existing and future PES projects in West Africa that are designed to simultaneously address both issues of rural poverty and ecosystem protection. This will form the basis of a future consortium application to ESPA. We recognise, however, that additional north-south and south links need to be established in order for us to do this, building on existing north-south and south-south collaborations. First, additional north-south links are needed to bring together the required research skills within an inter-disciplinary framework. Second, additional south-south links are needed to share knowledge and experience across pilot PES projects, and to bring in knowledge and experience from outside the region (i.e. Brazil). Our application for a Partnership and Project development Grant is designed to address these needs at a workshop in West Africa that will set the research, capacity building and implementation agenda for the proposed project; establish management structures and develop an impact plan. This will then form the basis of subsequent proposal development.