Assessing the effectiveness of policies in sustaining and promoting ecosystem services in the Indian Himalayas

<p>We examined existing policy instruments of the Indian forest, wildlife, and environment sectors for the period 1927–2008 to (a) assess their strengths and weaknesses in addressing information, market and policy failures in ecosystem service provision in the Indian Himalayan region and (b) determine if they were informatory or regulatory in nature and whether they encouraged the use of market-based instruments. Our analysis revealed that Indian policy measures can be categorized into four eras: Production (1927–1972), Protection (1972–1988), Community Participation (1988–2006), and Climate Change and Globalization (2006 onwards). The policies of the earlier two eras were largely regulatory in nature. From 1988 onwards, community participation in biodiversity conservation has made the policies more informatory and market-based. The recognition that Himalayas are a distinct ecosystem, crucial for their services but vulnerable to climate change impacts, has come about only with the National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem. Given the multiple stakeholders in Indian Himalayas and the off-site nature of ecosystem services, a complementarity of instruments and their ability to address the consequences of local decisions on downstream ecosystem services are essential. A participatory and sectorally coordinated mixed governance approach is needed to sustain ecosystem services in the region.</p

Recognising the role of local and Indigenous communities in managing natural resources for the greater public benefit: case studies from Asia and Oceania region

Many local and Indigenous communities across the globe afford ecosystem services to the wider global public through maintaining natural resources because of their duteous usage and astute management. However there is barely any recognition or financial support for them to continue maintaining or enhancing the flow of ecosystem services from their finely managed Indigenous and local lands. This paper offers insights using three case studies from the Oceania-Asia region—i.e. Australia, India and Fiji—that supports the highest Indigenous and local communities population. It describes the main cultural values and traditions, and land rights of Indigenous and local communities in relation to their natural systems, and the key issues and challenges that people experience in their respective regions. Lack of recognition of peoples’ land rights, unregulated and exploitative use of resources, and inequitable distribution of benefits that accrue to private (often corporate) enterprises from using natural resources were the common issues among all case studies. To support conservative use and management of Indigenous and local lands, this paper argues to establish monetary mechanisms i.e. Payments for Ecosystem Services, Green Funds, Common Trusts, etc. to enable Indigenous and local communities to continue managing natural resources for the greater public benefit