"United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)"--Cover.

1. Values, payments and institutions for ecosystems management : a developing country perspective / Pushpam Kumar and Ibrahim Thiaw -- 2. Making payments for ecosystem services work / Rodrigo Arriagada and Charles Perrings -- 3. Valuing ecosystem services : benefits, values, space and time / Brendan Fisher, Ian Bateman and R. Kerry Turner -- 4. Managing trade-offs in ecosystem services / Thomas Elmqvist T. ... [et al.] -- 5. Revisiting the relationship between equity and efficiency in payments for ecosystem services / Unai Pascual ... [et al.] -- 6. Are the amounts of payments for environmental services enough to contribute to poverty alleviation efforts in developing countries? / Luis C. Rodriguez, Unai Pascual and Roldan Muradian -- 7. Unifying environmental and social protection : learning from PES and CCT in developing countries / Luis C. Rodriguez ... [et al.] -- 8. Exploring the potential of payments for ecosystem services for in-situ agrobiodiversity conservation / Ulf Narloch, Adam G. Drucker, and Unai Pascual -- 9. Paying for international environmental public goods / Rodrigo Arriagada and Charles Perrings -- 10. Institution and ecosystem functions : the case of Keti Bunder, Pakistan / John M. Gowdy and Aneel Salman -- 11. How ecosystem-based restoration can yield a double dividend of adaptation to climate change and enhancement of ecosystem services / James Blignaut -- 12. The ethical foundations of cultural diversity in ecosystems and its role in economic valuation / Ian Parker -- 13. Lessons learned and conclusions / Pushpam Kumar.

'By providing the real-world examples and lessons, the book will guide policy-makers and experts in their efforts in exploring and applying these pathways and tools in the larger context of development policies of nations and the pursuit of a sustainable century.' - From the foreword by Achim Steiner United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme. Using a selection of authoritative and original contributions, this timely book explores the uncertainty surrounding the impact of decisions undertaken to manage ecosystem services worldwide. Invariably, the policies designed and implemented to manage forests, wetlands, and marine and coastal environments often involve conflicts of interest between various stakeholders. This has added an additional layer of complexity in the context of developing countries where institutions and governance are weak or absent. Economic valuation and the subsequent design of innovative response tools such as payment for ecosystem services (PES) have the potential to offer far greater transparency. In the case of LDCs, the identification of suitable institutions for executing these tools is also of vital importance. With a strong policy focus, the contributors synthesise the scientific approaches to PES, valuation, trade-offs, equity and the institutional requirements to operationalize a credible concept of economic value. The book also addresses the behavioral foundations of creating the incentive design and response policies for ecosystem management. This book will prove helpful to ecosystems management researchers and postgraduate students of conservation and development. Conservation managers, decision makers and development practitioners will also find this resource both interesting and beneficial to their work.