Workshop on PES in the Lower Mekong

This 2 day workshop in Hanoi reviewed the diversity of PES schemes emerging across the Lower Mekong region. The workshop highlighted design considerations and challenges for schemes ranging from Vietnam's centralised forest scheme based on mandated payments (tax) by the hydroelectric industry, to local ecotourism schemes in Laos and Cambodia through which tourists pay local communities a premium when they encounter target wildlife.

The workshop highlighted key questions about how different actors understand equity within PES, sustainable financing, who will pay for PES, and how to measure the outcomes of PES.

The workshop was organised by CIFOR, The Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences and USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia. A synthesis paper is forthcoming from Luca Tacconi (Australian Natl. Uni.)

See: http://blog.cifor.org/26067/along-the-mekong-forest-payment-schemes-a-study-in-contrasts#.VJI4dWSUdgB

#pes #conservation