Forests play an important role in producing and regulating freshwater flows, and forested watersheds are essential for sustaining freshwater supply. The SDGs related to water (SDG 6) and land (SDG 15) explicitly acknowledge the linkages between forests and water. Forests figure prominently in Article 5 of the Paris Agreement, particularly with respect to their role as sinks and reservoirs of GHGs; however, the document refers also to the need to incentivize both non-carbon and carbon benefits.
The increasing environmental pressures, climate change, which drive water shortage risks, call for a appropriate environmental stewardship, a new forest management and planning, that would integrate this important nexus between maintaining forests and securing freshwater supplies. Payments for ecosystem services can play significant role in it, – says the recent UNECE-FAO study “Forests and water. Valuation and payments for forest ecosystem services”.
The study underscores that the services provided by forest ecosystems for water quality are largely underestimate. It demonstrates how payments for ecosystem services schemes can be applied to forests, in particular focusing on forest’s hydrological functions for the mutual benefit of both humans and the environment.
Payments for ecosystem services are not only highlighted in all relevant UN literature since the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, but they are also mentioned in the context of the 2030 Agenda. The sustainable management of forests and water supplies and the many other benefits they provide are crucial for the long-term success of all SDGs.
The UNECE-FAO study covers advances and challenges facing these schemes and provides practical guidance for policymakers and practitioners. According to the authors “this study contains the most comprehensive currently available database of case studies on water-related payment for forest ecosystem services schemes in the UNECE region. Overall 229 schemes were identified in 23 UNECE member States, most of them located in the European Union and North America”.
