A Review Of The Legal And Policy Framework For Payments For Ecosystem Services Pes In Thailand

Thailand is somewhat lagging behind other countries in Southeast Asia in adopting the concept of payment for environmental services (PES) as an instrument for creating incentives for natural resources conservation. There are a number of activities involving payments for provision of activities or environmental services but these are missing many elements that would qualify them as a PES project. Others are mainly at the design stage or at the initial stages of implementation. One of the major challenges is to create recognition of the benefits from ecosystems services. Presently, private sectors attach considerable importance to CSR projects. There is nothing wrong with CSR projects but CSR activities do not address missing markets, nor aim to create incentives to undertake conservation measures on a sustainable basis. To create demand on a scale that would give the momentum for PES would require a revamp existing legal tools to create effective demand for conservation services. It may be strategically better to approach the ‘private sector institution’ such as: the Federation of Thai Industries and the Thai Chamber of Commerce, rather than individual private companies. Without this, CSR investment is likely to be spread so thin and while succeeding in promoting publicity of private companies, tangible outcomes in improving the environment are likely to be limited. Although biophysical conditions precede other criteria for selection of potential PES project sites, given that there is an estimated number of forest-dependent people of 1 to 2 million people most of whom believed to be poor and living in environmentally sensitive areas, it is undeniable that PES can be instrumental to addressing poverty alleviation objectives. A major challenge that must be addressed however, is the legal framework. Although not explicitly endorsing the concept of creating incentives for service providers, the relevant laws can be, -and needs to be-, relaxed in specific cases, particularly where PES types projects will be launched in protected areas where there are legal restrictions over access. PES can also supplement the legal provisions to protect biodiversity resources. Like all public goods, over-exploitation of biodiversity resources, is due to the failure to recognize that the economic value exceeds the market prices of the tradable parts of biodiversity resources. Unless there is recognition of the non-tradable benefits, biodiversity resources will continue to be underpriced and under valued, hence the potential contribution of the concept of PES projects to create recognition, demonstrate its economic values and link between the demand and supply side to capture those values.

The preservation of forests, sustainable forest management (SFM), forest landscape restoration (FLR) and the need to make the most of precious forest resources are priority issues in the policy and sustainable development agenda of the Asia-Pacific region. Innovation will be key in the coming decades to meet the increasing demand for wood and other forest products while halting and reversing deforestation, in line with the commitment taken at COP26 in Glasgow by the international community. However, uptake of innovative technologies has been slow and uneven in the Asia-Pacific region, and there remains a gap between political commitments and the investments – in education, capacity building, and infrastructure development – required to put them into practice. This technical report examines the potential and barriers to disseminating and deploying innovative technologies for SFM in the region and provides overarching recommendations and specific options for decision-makers. It delineates and informs the process by which decision-makers and actors can identify: the potential of innovative technologies to advance SFM; their potential impacts; constraints to technology uptake and scaling up, and how to overcome these constraints and facilitate adoption.

This report synthesizes the country studies on PES schemes in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – that were prepared for a regional review – to compare the various schemes, to assess their current status, implementation processes and lessons learned, and to draw policy recommendations relevant to REDD+. A summary discussion of the definitions of PES is provided, given that the definitional issue is raised in the individual reports. That discussion is used to present a comprehensive framework of the key design features of PES, which is then used to outline the features of the PES schemes in the four country studies before presenting a comparison of their key features and issues. Then, the key lessons learnt from the country studies and this review, as well as the policy recommendations relevant to REDD+, are derived.

The book discusses sustainability and law in a multifaceted way. Together, sustainability and law are an emerging challenge for research and science. This volume contributes through an interdisciplinary concept to its further exploration. The contributions explore this exciting domain with innovative ideas and replicable approaches. It combines a variety of authors, from both the public and the private sectors, and thereby guarantees a broad view that enshrines the more theoretical arguments from the academic side as well as stronger practical applicable perspectives. The book provides space for thoughtful expansions of established theories as well as the hopeful emergence of innovative ideas. Moreover, the combination of three to five contributions into the eleven parts respectively aims toward a compression of like minded thoughts. This should lead to an intensification of exchange of viewpoints from different angles on a similar theme. Readers therefore also have the opportunity to concentrate on single chapters, but receive comprised knowledge and a variety of thoughts for new ideas on a particular theme.

REDD+ must be transformational. REDD+ requires broad institutional and governance reforms, such as tenure, decentralisation, and corruption control. These reforms will enable departures from business as usual, and involve communities and forest users in making and implementing policies that a ect them. Policies must go beyond forestry. REDD+ strategies must include policies outside the forestry sector narrowly de ned, such as agriculture and energy, and better coordinate across sectors to deal with non-forest drivers of deforestation and degradation. Performance-based payments are key, yet limited. Payments based on performance directly incentivise and compensate forest owners and users. But schemes such as payments for environmental services (PES) depend on conditions, such as secure tenure, solid carbon data and transparent governance, that are often lacking and take time to change. This constraint reinforces the need for broad institutional and policy reforms. We must learn from the past. Many approaches to REDD+ now being considered are similar to previous e orts to conserve and better manage forests, often with limited success. Taking on board lessons learned from past experience will improve the prospects of REDD+ e ectiveness. National circumstances and uncertainty must be factored in. Di erent country contexts will create a variety of REDD+ models with di erent institutional and policy mixes. Uncertainties about the shape of the future global REDD+ system, national readiness and political consensus require  exibility and a phased approach to REDD+ implementation.

Southeast Asia is one of the most diverse regions in the world – hosting a wide range of languages, ethnicities, religions, economies, ecosystems and political systems. Amidst this diversity, however, has been a common desire to develop. This provides a uniting theme across landscapes of difference. This Handbook traces the uneven experiences that have accompanied development in Southeast Asia. The region is often considered to be a development success story; however, it is increasingly recognized that growth underpinning this development has been accompanied by patterns of inequality, violence, environmental degradation and cultural loss. In 30 chapters, written by established and emerging experts of the region, the Handbook examines development encounters through four thematic sections: • Approaching Southeast Asian development, • Institutions and economies of development, • People and development and • Environment and development. The authors draw from national or sub-national case studies to consider regional scale processes of development – tracing the uneven distribution of costs, risks and benefits. Core themes include the ongoing neoliberalization of development, issues of social and environmental justice and questions of agency and empowerment. This important reference work provides rich insights into the diverse impacts of current patterns of development and in doing so raises questions and challenges for realizing more equitable alternatives. It will be of value to students and scholars of Asian Studies, Development Studies, Human Geography, Political Ecology and Asian Politics.