50 Can the effects of El Niño be mitigated through a system of payments for environmental services? A study of the Piura River watershed, Peru M. Fernández Barrena, N. Grados, M.S. Dunin-Borkowski, P. Martínez de Anguita and P. Flores Velásquez To predict the viability of a system ndean cloud forests are vanish- watershed of the Piura River by caus- of payments for protection against ing with the ongoing advance ing landslides in steep areas and severe floods and hydrological cycle Aof the agricultural frontier. floods downstream. In 1998, the losses disturbances, the estimated costs The environmental degradation caused were valued at more than US$100 mil- of modifying land use practices by inappropriate farming practices is lion (CTAR, 1998). Rainfall in a 1983 were compared with the amounts destabilizing the hydrological cycle, event was even higher, but because of that users would be willing to pay. increasing the seasonal fluctuations in the high deforestation rate the damage river flows and disturbances such as was greater in 1998. landslides and floods. In the northern A study of the Piura watershed indi- region of Piura, Peru, these problems cated that in view of such catastrophes Mario Fernández Barrena, Pablo Martínez de Anguita and Pablo Flores Velásquez are at Rey are increasing vulnerability to the El inhabitants would be willing to pay for Juan Carlos University, Móstoles, Madrid, Spain. Niño phenomenon – an oscillation of environmental services such as flood pro- Nora Grados and Maria Sofía Dunin- the ocean-atmosphere system in the tection and control of the hydrological Borkowski are at Piura University, Piura, Peru. tropical Pacific which has important cycle (improvement in the quantity and This article is adapted from a study published consequences for weather around the quality of water and reduction in seasonal in the Revista Electrónica de la Red globe (INRENA, 2005). flow fluctuations). The study examined Lationamericana de Cooperación Técnica en Manejo de Cuencas Hidrográficas (REDLACH), In recent decades El Niño disturbances the feasibility of a system of payments Number 1, Year 4 (2007). have resulted in costly damage in the for environmental services (PES) for the In the Piura River watershed, Peru, loss of forest cover has increased erosion; the hydrological system could be improved by compensating small upland farmers for reforestation, forest conservation and adoption of agroforestry, sustainable farming and silvipasture techniques that protect soil M. FERNÁNDEZ BARRENA BARRENA FERNÁNDEZ M. Unasylva 229, Vol. 58, 2007 Unasylva229_english.indb 50 12/02/2008 14:32:38 51 1 The downstream population includes Ecuador Erosion risk in the Piura some 300 000 potential buyers of the Yapatera region main subwatershed areas of the Piura services, with average annual income Charanal watershed, Peru of more than US$2 400. Piura The watershed has six main subwater- Las Gallegas sheds where improvements could con- Pacific Ocean Pacific Piura tribute to regulating the hydrological watershed cycle. All of the banks of the Piura River from the outlets of its main tributaries Corrales to its arrival at the Pacific Ocean are vulnerable to sudden rises. Practically the whole zone, including most upland Bigote farmland, has a high to very high erosion Piura risk (Figure 1). Geographic information Huarmaca watershed system (GIS) analysis showed that ero- sion risk is influenced more by forest cover than by soil type. The solutions to the problem are clear: conservation of the remaining forests, recovery of lost areas, reforestation of stands, a shift to agroforestry and other systems that pro- tect soil from erosion, and development of silvipasture (López Cadenas de Llano, 1990; Braud et al., 2001). Erosion risk The flow in the Piura River undergoes Very low wide seasonal fluctuation, ranging from Low 5.72 m3 per second for about ten months Medium of the year to 200 m3 per second in the High rainy season. It also varies consider- Very high ably from year to year; for example, in Source: Based on the methodology of Jiménez et al., 2006. El Niño years it reaches peak flows of 1 600 m3 per second, while in La Niña watershed whose proceeds could be used them; and mapping and hydrological years flow is much lower. to conserve forests and develop sustain- study of the watershed area to identify The Yapatera and Charanal subwater- able farming and livestock techniques the most important areas for mainte- sheds were identified as those that could (Martínez de Anguita et al., 2006). nance of environmental services. By benefit most from intervention, as they Finance would come from downstream comparing the costs of the measures have particularly serious erosion (Fig- inhabitants who suffer from the effects of needed to conserve water resources ure 2). Although they are the smallest El Niño. The payments would be used to and the amounts that service users and subwatershed basins, occupying only compensate small farmers for their labour other investors could be expected to 15.4 percent of the total area, together on forest and river-channel conservation, contribute, it was possible to analyse the they account for 38 percent of the sedi- to create incentives for the adoption of viability of several alternative options ment and 23 percent of the water sup- soil protection techniques in the farming for a PES system. plied by the six subwatersheds of the systems used, and also to help improve Piura River. the living conditions of peasant farmers MODEL PES SCHEME A survey of almost 200 potential pur- in this mountain region. The high watershed of the Piura River chasers in the city of Piura, together The study included a socio-economic has a population of about 70 000 poten- with other studies, indicated that the analysis of the watershed area to identify tial providers of environmental services; inhabitants of the watershed are will- potential service providers; a survey they share similar farming systems and ing to pay for environmental services of potential users of the environmental socio-economic conditions, with aver- (Table 1). More than 80 percent of the services and their willingness to pay for age annual income of about US$400. city residents who responded to the Unasylva 229, Vol. 58, 2007 Unasylva229_english.indb 51 12/02/2008 14:32:41 52 survey acknowledged their readiness As some socio-economic groups would 10 million nuevos soles (S./), equivalent to pay. Some 66 percent of those sur- be willing to pay more than others, a to US$3.2 million. veyed would prefer to make payments scheme of differentiated payments by The providers identified were land- to an independent institution set up for socio-economic group would maximize owners in the upper part of the River the purpose. Another 19 percent would income from the PES system. By mul- Piura watershed who could maintain or prefer to make payments together with tiplying the amount that each group improve the quality of water with good water bills for the sake of convenience. would be willing to pay by the number practices or a change in land use. Pay- The choices of the remaining 15 percent of households in that group (Table 2), ments would compensate them in vari- were divided among city or regional it was calculated that annual income ous cases for reforestation and manage- government or unspecified others. from the system would total more than ment of reforested areas, for conserving forests or for adopting agroforestry prac- 2 25 7 000 tices. A physical planning model was Average annual created using the methodology proposed 6 000 production 20 of water and by Jiménez et al. (2006), dividing the 5 000 Water (m sediment in providers’ area into zones (Figure 3): subwatersheds • maximum environmental service 15 4 000 of the Piura basin 3 protection zone: areas on steep /ha/year) 3 000 10 slopes and thus having a greater 2 000 risk of erosion, divided into two 5 subzones: Sediment (tonnes/ha/year) 1 000 - maximum protection zone 1: 0 0 slope greater than 60 percent Bigote Huarmaca Las Corrales Charanal Yapatera Gallegas (40 728 ha); Sediments Water - maximum protection zone 2: slope between 40 and 60 percent TABLE 1. Potential purchasers of environmental services identified in the Piura (63 070 ha); River watershed area • hydrological protection zone: land located 150 m from water channels Identified purchaser Environmental service Motive for purchasing demanded the service and springs and covered by vegeta- Piura regional government, Mitigation of flood risks Catastrophes caused by tion that protects the channels, while inhabitants of the city of Piura the 1983 and 1998 El also providing habitat and conserva- and other smaller cities (Tambo Niño phenomena, with Grande, Morropón, Chulucanas) losses totalling more than tion corridors for diverse plant and US$100 million (CTAR, 1998) animal species (35 333 ha). Farmers in the lower areas of Quality and quantity of water Improvement in crops for • environmental service conservation the mountains and reduction in seasonal domestic and international fluctuations markets zone: natural or primary forest ar- eas, whose protection is vital for the Enosa Electric Company Quantity of water and reduction Reduced electricity production in seasonal fluctuations by mini-hydroelectric plants quality of watershed environmental Enterprises or industries Some service or improvement Improvement or reduction of services as well as for conservation in social image risks of biodiversity (16 091 ha); • sustainable farming zone: land used TABLE 2. Population structure of Piura city according to socio-economic groups for agriculture and animal husbandry and their willingness to pay for the service (71 696 ha). With a view to maximizing the area Monthly Average willing Households Inhabitants expenditure to pay per month to be protected with limited funding, (S/.) (S/.) No. % of total No. % of total various types of contract are proposed >920 29.9 7 000 9.7 39 000 10.8 for providers in the various zones to be 636–920 17.8 20 400 28.1 97 700 27 included in the PES system (see Box).