Payment for Environmental Services (PES)

Payment for Environmental Services (PES) is one of the projects being conducted by NETIF along with ICIMOD, Forest Action and Sundarijal Environment and Tourism Development Society (SETDS).Payment for Environmental Services (PES) is a mechanism that has been tried and tested in many countries around the world, but for Nepal it is a totally new concept. As a general definition it is a form of sustainable financing for conservation, or in other words, a voluntary or mandatory-by-law practice for farmers or landowners to be paid or offered incentives to help protect the natural resources of their land or other ecological services. The PES scheme basically involves charging the beneficiary groups ‘downstream’ for the services received, and paying to the community groups ‘upstream’ to finance the conservation management of the area.

PES mechanisms can be effective in protected area management, only when they also contribute to the livelihoods and wellbeing of the local communities. The initial feasibility study in the the Sundarijal catchment area of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park indicated that the people living in the villages inside the protected area are suffering economically, with little trust and intense conflict with the park authorities. With few livelihood options local people have resorted to making alcohol, using fuel wood collected from the protective area.

NETIF along with Forest Action Nepal are collaborating with ICIMOD to carry out action research, awareness campaigns, and environmental conservation training initiatives within the watershed catchment area of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, which supplies 66% of the drinking water to the inhabitants of Kathmandu. The project includes coordinating, supporting, and empowering the local stakeholders such as the local government committees, schools, clubs, and institutions on the importance of implementing such a scheme and the level of benefit they could potentially receive. NETIF is working on this pilot scheme in conjunction with their own action research programs such as the organic farming training, waste management, and sanitation as prime examples of environmental conservation techniques.