9.4.4 The Potential of Payments for Ecosystem Services
Schemes in Thailand
Although Thailand has been active in developing incentive-based environmental
projects, such as under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), the country has not yet implemented any viable PES scheme at the
watershed level. Therefore, we can only discuss the findings of feasibility studies
into the potential for and constraints on establishing PES schemes in the future.
9.4.4.1 Identification of the PES Market
Any viable PES market needs first a clear definition of the environmental services
to be provided. Major environmental concerns in the watersheds of northern
Thailand are related to deforestation, floods, landslides and droughts, so it is likely
that under future PES schemes, upland farmers will be presented with a set of
measures proposed by state land management authorities, such as building checkdams, establishing forest trees and planting vetiver grass, although scientific evidence for the effectiveness of such measures in providing the desired environmental
services has been variable to date.
Second, a PES market can only develop if there is at least one buyer of the
environmental services being offered. One research project carried out by the
Uplands Program found that urban residents in northern Thailand were willing to
pay moderate additional fees for environmental projects in the uplands, those that
would improve tap water quality (Ahlheim et al. 2006). Sangkapitux et al. (2009)
used choice experiments to elicit upstream and downstream farmers’ willingness to
engage in a compensation scheme for environmental services in the Mae Sa
watershed in northern Thailand. In this study, data were obtained from 371 farm
households in the upstream communities and 151 farm households downstream.
Results suggested that downstream farmers in the Mae Sa watershed were willing to
contribute on average of around 1 % of their annual income towards improving
water resources through changes in upstream land management practices. The age
and education level of the household heads in the downstream communities were
positively correlated with a willingness to pay for an improvement in water
resources, and farm households with high acreages and with rice as their main
crop were also more likely to participate in a compensation scheme. The research
also showed that having a high proportion of non-farm income negatively affected
households’ willingness to pay, which is of major significance for the design of
future PES schemes given the decreasing contribution of agriculture to rural
people’s incomes in less remote areas (Sangkapitux et al. 2009).
Third, providers/sellers of environmental services need to be able and willing to
cooperate in a PES market on a voluntary basis. In the empirical CE study of
Sangkapitux et al. (2009), it was found that upstream resource managers in a
northern Thai watershed were willing to change their farming systems to more
9 Participatory Approaches to Research and Development in the Southeast. . .
347
Schemes in Thailand
Although Thailand has been active in developing incentive-based environmental
projects, such as under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism
(CDM), the country has not yet implemented any viable PES scheme at the
watershed level. Therefore, we can only discuss the findings of feasibility studies
into the potential for and constraints on establishing PES schemes in the future.
9.4.4.1 Identification of the PES Market
Any viable PES market needs first a clear definition of the environmental services
to be provided. Major environmental concerns in the watersheds of northern
Thailand are related to deforestation, floods, landslides and droughts, so it is likely
that under future PES schemes, upland farmers will be presented with a set of
measures proposed by state land management authorities, such as building checkdams, establishing forest trees and planting vetiver grass, although scientific evidence for the effectiveness of such measures in providing the desired environmental
services has been variable to date.
Second, a PES market can only develop if there is at least one buyer of the
environmental services being offered. One research project carried out by the
Uplands Program found that urban residents in northern Thailand were willing to
pay moderate additional fees for environmental projects in the uplands, those that
would improve tap water quality (Ahlheim et al. 2006). Sangkapitux et al. (2009)
used choice experiments to elicit upstream and downstream farmers’ willingness to
engage in a compensation scheme for environmental services in the Mae Sa
watershed in northern Thailand. In this study, data were obtained from 371 farm
households in the upstream communities and 151 farm households downstream.
Results suggested that downstream farmers in the Mae Sa watershed were willing to
contribute on average of around 1 % of their annual income towards improving
water resources through changes in upstream land management practices. The age
and education level of the household heads in the downstream communities were
positively correlated with a willingness to pay for an improvement in water
resources, and farm households with high acreages and with rice as their main
crop were also more likely to participate in a compensation scheme. The research
also showed that having a high proportion of non-farm income negatively affected
households’ willingness to pay, which is of major significance for the design of
future PES schemes given the decreasing contribution of agriculture to rural
people’s incomes in less remote areas (Sangkapitux et al. 2009).
Third, providers/sellers of environmental services need to be able and willing to
cooperate in a PES market on a voluntary basis. In the empirical CE study of
Sangkapitux et al. (2009), it was found that upstream resource managers in a
northern Thai watershed were willing to change their farming systems to more
9 Participatory Approaches to Research and Development in the Southeast. . .
347