Chapter 7 Payment for Ecosystem Services in Cambodia: Challenges and Potential

摘要

Payment for ecosystem services PES has been identified as a sustainable financing strategy for conservation and local livelihood improvement in Cambodia. It is based on a market approach in which ecosystem beneficiaries or users pay money or other nonmonetary incentives to ecosystem service providers or park managers to protect their natural resources. The PES schemes in Cambodia are currently being implemented by conservation organizations and are small scale, operating with a very limited legal basis and unclear property rights. Despite these challenges, they have shown significant impacts on both conservation and local livelihoods. If well designed with legal and political supports, PES could potentially fund the conservation of shrinking natural resources, for which the Cambodian government usually lacks a budget, and improve the well-being of both local communities and business owners.