Market mechanisms and assessment methods for environmental services from private forests in Australia

摘要

Forest ecosystems provide a wide range of economic, social and environmental benefits and services. In some regions of Australia there have been considerable land and water degradation and loss of biodiversity and other environmental services. The role of forests and trees in mitigating these environmental impacts has been recognized for some time. Governments have implemented a variety of incentive arrangements to encourage private landowners to retain existing forest, replace forests on areas cleared for agriculture and effectively integrate trees with current farming systems. While landowners can make financial profits from the sale of wood or other commercial forest products, environmental services (clean water, dryland salinity mitigation, soil protection, carbon sequestration or biodiversity conservation) are not effectively valued or traded as market goods. Allowing forest owners to realize financial returns for the supply of environmental benefits could result in improved environmental outcomes and a more sustainable mix of land uses. Australian organizations have been early movers in developing institutional arrangements for trading carbon credits from forests and a variety of approaches are being developed for marketing other forest services and benefits. This paper focuses on approaches to marketing carbon, biodiversity and salinity mitigation from forests and revegetation. We conclude that developing markets for environmental services can provide a basis for harnessing private capital for environmental repair and for more efficient investment of government funds to achieve broader environmental outcomes and to efficiently quantify the benefits of investment. Marketing environmental services needs to be underpinned by a scientifically credible system for assessment and monitoring of the services. Experience gained through pilot schemes for trading, monitoring and reporting is important in creating confidence for public and private investors.