Phase II of an Ecosystem Services Project in the Vecht Basin: Developing a Proposal for a Regional Scheme on Payments for Ecosystem Services
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Phase II of an ecosystem services project in the Vecht basin: Developing a proposal for a regional scheme on payments for ecosystem services. Final Report (DII.6 – V13, Final Version of 31st August 2014) Authors: Ilke Borowski-Maaser (Interessen Im Fluss) Uta Sauer (University of Goettingen) Jörg Cortekar (University of Goettingen) Suzanne van der Meulen (Deltares) With contributions from Karen Molenaar (Deltares intern) and Zaida Cholico (intern Waterboard Velt en Vecht) Reviewed by Jos Brils, Deltares. Funded by: Imprint: Borowski-Maaser, I; Sauer, U., Cortekar, J., van der Meulen, S.: Final Report (DII.6 – V13) on Phase II of an ecosystem services project in the Vecht basin: Developing a proposal for a regional scheme on payments for ecosystem services. Photo on title page: art next to the Vecht at the border between Germany and the Netherlands. Photo by Suzanne van der Meulen. This study was financed by the Dutch Ministerie voor Infrastructuur en Milieu and the German Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit (as part of their activities in the context of the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (adopted 1992 in Helsinki, short: Water Convention)) and by Niedersächsische Ministerium für Umwelt, Energie und Klimaschutz. Version Date Author Initials Review Initials V13 30th July 2014 Borowski-Maaser Brils, Deltares Sauer Otter, Deltares Cortekar Van der Meulen State: final © Interessen Im Fluss, 2014 Table of Content Part I: Summaries ........................................................................................ 5 Executive Summary .........................................................................................................................7 Samenvatting ................................................................................................................................ 13 Zusammenfassung......................................................................................................................... 21 Part II: Theoretical background & project’s approach .................................. 29 1 Introduction and project background ..................................................................................... 31 2 Theoretical basis: Payments schemes for ecosystem services ................................................. 34 2.1 Ecosystem Services – short introduction to the concept................................................. 34 2.2 Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES): what are they, what do they offer, what is typical? 36 2.3 Summary for Vecht case study ....................................................................................... 42 3 Relevant ES insights from literature ........................................................................................ 43 3.1 Identification of relevant ES ........................................................................................... 43 3.2 Quantification of relevant ES: ........................................................................................ 44 3.3 Valuation of (relevant) ES as fundament for a PES scheme ............................................. 46 3.4 Conclusion on ES assessment from literature for the VechtPES project .......................... 47 4 Case study method: a down-to-earth PES development process ............................................. 49 4.1 Data generation with the help of a participatory approach ............................................ 50 Part III: Results of the case study ................................................................ 58 5 Understanding how natural resources are currently managed in the Vecht basin ................... 59 5.1 Main issues and context ................................................................................................ 59 5.2 Institutional context: transboundary framing, competent authorities, PES-like instruments and local stakeholder context ................................................................................. 60 5.3 Floodplain restoration as target measure for developing of our PES-scheme ................. 64 6 Costs and benefits resulting from floodplain restoration ........................................................ 68 6.1 Setting the boundary conditions: costs and benefits for water management ................. 70 6.2 Cost and benefits for nature protection ......................................................................... 73 6.3 Cost and benefits for tourism......................................................................................... 75 6.4 Cost and benefits for agriculture .................................................................................... 76 6.5 Cost and benefits for municipalities ............................................................................... 80 6.6 Imbalances and Balances as a result of the floodplain restoration measure: Summary of the issues that could possibly be addressed by a PES scheme..................................................... 81 7 PES scheme proposals ............................................................................................................ 83 7.1 What is “for sale”? What is the scale of the PES? ........................................................... 84 7.2 Who are the contracting parties? Who are buyers and sellers? ...................................... 84 7.3 How can the price be set? - Negotiation recommended as model to reach agreement on a PES scheme ............................................................................................................................. 85 7.4 Defining payment & monitoring of the measure’s impacts ............................................. 89 7.5 Conditionality and additionality ..................................................................................... 89 7.6 Height of the payment ................................................................................................... 90 7.7 What are barriers to implement the proposed PES scheme? What can foster PES implementation? ....................................................................................................................... 94 8 Feedback from local stakeholder on the results of the case study ........................................... 96 8.1 Feedback from the local stakeholders on their involvement in our project and its results 96 9 Conclusions and lessons learned for future projects ............................................................... 98 9.1 Summary of project approach and outlook .................................................................... 98 9.2 Lessons learned ............................................................................................................. 99 10 References ...................................................................................................................... 103 Part IV: Annexes ...................................................................................... 107 Annex 1 Overview deliverables .............................................................................................. 109 Annex 2 Indikatoren-Tabelle .................................................................................................. 111 Annex 3 Tasks for developing a PES in the Vecht region ......................................................... 119 Annex 4 Stakeholderlist – Extensive list of all stakeholders .................................................... 121 Annex 5 PES like instruments in Lower Saxony....................................................................... 123 Annex 6 PES like instruments in The Netherlands .................................................................. 131 Annex 7 Interview guidance (German version)....................................................................... 133 Annex 8 Results Feedback Questionnaire .............................................................................. 143 p. 4/145 Part I: Summaries p. 5/145 p. 6/145 Executive Summary Aim and background of the project Ecosystems provide many services to the benefit of society. Flood protection, food production and biodiversity to name but a few we can enjoy. For increasing societal awareness and appraisal of these services the concepts of ecosystem services (ES) and of payments for ecosystem services (PES) have been developed. These concepts are expected to support the protection of ecosystems and thus also of their capacity to deliver their services to society. Many case studies became well known by proving the supportive character of the concepts. In the context of public water management, hopes have been that they provide a tool to proof that river restoration measures are worthwhile to be prioritized in competition with other regional stakes (e.g. provision of child care, traffic infrastructure). Water managers have to demonstrate the measure’s effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the impact beyond water management. In addition, it has been expected that a Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) could help to generate additional funds for implementing measures. A PES balances the costs and benefits resulting from a change in ES provision by measures. However, one constraint of the ES concept in practical implementation is that it is data rich and scientifically ambitious. The efforts linked to the identification, quantification and valuation of changes in ES provision due to a measure implementation are often considered