Payment for Environmental Services for the Sustainable Development of the Territory
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American Journal of Environmental Sciences 10 (5): 480-488, 2014 ISSN: 1553-345X © 2014 A.M. Di Trapani et al ., This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 3.0 license doi:10.3844/ajessp.2014.480.488 Published Online 10 (5) 2014 (http://www.thescipub.com/ajes.toc) PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY Anna Maria Di Trapani, Riccardo Squatrito, Mario Foderà, Riccardo Testa, Salvatore Tudisca and Filippo Sgroi Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, University of Palermo, Italy Received 2014-09-03; Revised 2014-09-15; Accepted 2014-09-17 ABSTRACT Over the last years the interest in environmental services provided by forests has considerably grow. This situation, in developed countries, derive from rising demand of new goods and services tied to landscape use and leisure activities. These can be considered such as no woody products and they represent externalities produced by forest that, if suitably utilized, could produce value for the area and earnings for people living near forests. From an economic point of view, at the aim of providing these services, it is necessary the introduction of a suitable payment system or, in alternative, a situation in which positive externalities of landscape, in sync with other goods/services, are offered to consumers. In this context, forest conservation and management assume a very important role, especially when public administration allocates decreasing funds to environment resources. In this paper it has been analyzed how positive externalities provided from forest, by means of an appropriate payment system and considering the integration with surrounding area, can contribute to the value creation. Keywords: Payment for Environmental Services, Forest, Multifunctionality, Biodiversity 1. INTRODUCTION Forests present numerous habitat to plants, animals and microorganisms, housing the majority of specie According to forest multifunctionality, considered at and contributing to preserve environmental stability in the basis of modern forest planning and management, terms of biodiversity (Fedrowitz et al ., 2014; each forest stand fulfills all the functions attributable to a Marshalek et al ., 2014). gen-eral forestry system, even if in different measures. Furthermore, they play a key role in climate From an environmental point of view, forests carry change mitigation through carbon capture and storage out various ecosystem services corresponding to multiple (Ximenes et al ., 2012; Klein et al ., 2013; Liu and benefits provided to humankind and, ultimately, to Yin, 2013). connections existing between environmental resources, Paying attention to the interaction with water economic systems and the human being (Monarca et al ., resources, forest functions include the protection of 2009; Tudisca et al ., 2014a; 2014b; 2014c; 2014d; water quality and supply, the prevention of floods and Tomao et al ., 2013). landslides, the mitigation of drought effects and the With regard to socioeconomic perspectives, forest struggle against soil erosion (Ferretti et al ., 2014). exploitation produces resources, guaranteeing at the Among cultural services offered by forests, the same time a wide set of goods and services that range possibility to experience landscapes that are largely from wood products to no wood ones. undisturbed by human pressure and the role of state and Services provided by forestry systems have already national parks, aimed at facilitating environmental been well studied and demonstrated (Campbell and education and sustainable tourism, have to be highlighted Tilley, 2014; Zanchi et al., 2014; Cudlìn et al ., 2013). (Brandt et al ., 2014). Corresponding Author: Filippo Sgroi, Department of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, University of Palermo, Italy Science Publications 480 AJES Anna Maria Di Trapani et al . / American Journal of Environmental Sciences 10 (5): 480-488, 2014 At the same time, forest management has an sustainable way, net social benefits, including that ones important economic role in many countries and they deriving from no woody goods. represent the starting point of new local economies in Economic laws show unequivocally that without many rural areas, tied to their utilization both for public policies forest management leads to the no recreational, cultural and touristic keys and for energetic sustainability, the underestimation of good and service production by bio-mass (Testa et al ., 2014a). values without any market price and, ultimately, to the In this way, forests could represent a source of utilization of natural resources beyond reproduction employment, especially in rural zones where capacity (Castellucci and Delfini, 2006). multifunctionality is achieved just by a sustainable Over a period of economic recession, in which public utilization of forest resources, becoming a administration allocates decreasing founds managing fundamental condition for human staying on the area forests, it is necessary to create alternative models that (Mammuccini, 2004). safeguard public goods. Forests are considered an important resource for In the present paper, after defining payment for socio-economic growth of mountain area but often environmental services (PES), Bosco Ficuzza, they have been place of tension because of different localized in hillmountain Palermo area, has been take interests between tourist development and into account. environmental safeguard. Thus, new management Later reserve description, PES have been studied for instrument are required at the aim of conciliating detected area. Ultimately, by attributing specific scores, various requirements (SISEF, 2014). PES results have been showed, highlighting possible In fact, over the last years human activities have improvement in Bosco Ficuzza. deter-mined huge impacts on ecosystems, influencing their capability to generate services and 2. PAYMENT FOR ENVIRONMENTAL externalities (TEEB, 2014). SERVICES In planning processes forest should be considered such as one of territorial components able to have a Human welfare depends on ecosystems and benefits confrontation with other factors and processes involved that they provide (Costanza et al ., 1997). in area management. Forests represent an important Externalities related to forest resources play an opportunity of economic growth and sustainable business important role in their economic, as a natural development, constituting the base of an economic consequence of the growing gap between the demand for system founded on the production of ecofriendly goods public goods (water availability, air quality, landscape and ecosystem services. and biodiversity protection) and supply of goods and Goods, services and externalities contribute to the services generated by forests. definition of ecosystem services, but they differ The cultural development and increased substantially because of market do not recognize the environmental awareness of the community bring out the price of externalities that are free enjoyed from role of forest ecosystems, including those in urban and community (Pearce and Turner, 1989). suburban areas, such as public goods. Externalities are defined as effects occurring every This role appears by a growing trend of users, an time that an economic activity of production or increase in the management complexity aimed at consumption affects utility levels of producers or enhancing the multifunctionality and an consumers, whose effects are not evaluated or acknowledgment of new socio-economic and ethical compensated (Dasgupta and Pearce, 1975). Externalities values, all within a framework that ensures their are positive if generated effects increase utility, while sustainable development (Yan and Tian, 2014; they are negative in the opposite case. Kenneth et al ., 1999). New earnings opportunity would occur for forest The Ecosystem Services (ES) are defined as the enterprise by the introduction of externalities in benefits that derive directly or indirectly from instruments for direct or indirect remuneration. ecosystems (MEA, 2005). The agroforestry area plays Forest produces various goods and services for many a complex role respect to ES. In fact, if on one hand people, starting from individual citizen up to the whole its production proc-esses use the ES generated from community. Nowadays, it is necessary to set public the surrounding area, on the other hand it can provide policies able to identify the uses that maximized, in a ES to society. Science Publications 481 AJES Anna Maria Di Trapani et al . / American Journal of Environmental Sciences 10 (5): 480-488, 2014 The biophysical quantification and monetary large scale PES) Payments should cover at least the cost valuation of services allow to define and plan the public of perceived opportunity, but should not exceed the intervention, with particular attention to the agricultural social value of the incremental environmental service and environmental policies aimed at biodiversity provided (Prokofieva et al ., 2014). conservation. Under certain conditions, the willingness to pay Studies (Deal et al ., 2012; Pettenella, 2011; Pirard et al ., can create financial incentives for local stakeholders 2010) have analyzed the possibility of adopting new at the aim of transforming the value of natural tools based on the creation of markets for specific goods resources into goods and services (Muradian et al ., or forestry services, in order to stimulate the offer, the 2010; Turner et al ., 2003). socalled