Payment for ecological services comes under scrutiny
Vientiane Times, 26 Feb 2010
Big business and organisations that exploit natural resources or the environment should pay for their use, according to the Water Resources and Environment Administration (WREA).
Hydropower and resource projects, factories, and similar developments should make a contribution to improve ecosystem and environmental management in Laos , Head of the Office of the administration, Ms Monemany Nghoybouakong said on Wednesday.
“These developments have an impact on the environment so they need to pay to improve it,” she said. Ms Monemany was speaking at a national workshop in Vientiane attended by 75 Lao officials, international representatives, and development workers
The workshop on payment for ecological service was organised by the WREA for participants to gain a general understanding of the scheme.
Payment for ecological services is a tool for the conservation of natural resources and maintaining people's quality of life.
The system can be applied to watershed protection, forest conservation, biodiversity conservation, carbon sequestration, and landscape beauty in support of ecotourism.
The scheme is still in its infancy in Southeast Asia , although the creation of markets for ecosystem services has been theoretically recognised in the region, Ms Monemany said.
Discussions at the workshop shared best practices and policies from neighbouring Greater Mekong Sub-region countries and from leading bodies worldwide. Talks included cases studies and policies from China , and Vietnam .
Payment for ecological services also links Laos more directly to regional deliberations on ecosystems payments to strengthen its role in these efforts, she said.
The Global Environmental Institute which was represented at the conference is a China based non-profit, non-government organisation and think tank that also aims to help the Lao government in establishing an information and planning system for land use.
The institute organises training in natural resource management and the design of market-based models to solve environmental problems in order to realise the sustainable development and use of land.
