Los sistemas de pago por servicios ambientales entre la adicionalidad y la subsidiariedad: aplicación a la belleza escénica en el pantano de San Juan, Madrid, España

A payment for environmental services (PES) based on the beauty of the San Juan dam landscape is proposed containing two innovative aspect in regard to previous PES systems: the elaboration of a diagnosis oriented to obtain a shared vision of the area based in a participative process including all relevant local stakeholders, and the integration of the PES mechanism into the regional public environmental policy. The proposed system also identifies the offer and the demand of the environmental service. It shows the main problems associated to the preservation of the service and proposes management plans oriented to its conservation. Finally, the economic viability of the system is studied comparing three different scenarios according to the grade of integration of the PES model into the regional conservation public policy. This paper shows how a PES system can be used to guarantee public investments in nature conservation through a private management.Se plantea un sistema de pago por servicios ambientales (PSA) basado en la valoración de la belleza escénica en la zona del pantano de San Juan, Madrid, con dos aspectos novedosos respecto a estudios PSA previos: la elaboración de un diagnóstico basado en un proceso participativo que involucra a todos los actores sociales locales y cuyo fin es el de obtener una visión compartida sobre el área, y la integración del mecanismo PSA en la gestión pública regional de la conservación de la naturaleza. El sistema propuesto además identifica los oferentes y demandantes del servicio ambiental, muestra los principales problemas asociados a la conservación del servicio y plantea programas de gestión orientados a contribuir a su conservación. Se estudia, por último, la viabilidad económica del sistema comparando tres escenarios hipotéticos en función del grado de integración del sistema PSA en las políticas públicas de conservación de la naturaleza regionales. El trabajo muestra como un sistema PSA puede servir para garantizar las inversiones públicas en conservación a través de la gestión privada

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public’s preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments’ contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use

The Langhe Landscape Changes

Agricultural policies and socioeconomic constraints are strong drivers of change in human-dominated rural landscapes of Mediterranean Europe. Changes in rural landscapes can have a strong influence on the perspectives of protection and improvement of the natural and cultural heritage. A shift towards quality production, favoured by institutional financial support, has been recently observed in hilly productive Mediterranean sites. An example of this situation is the Langhe region (NW Italy), where woody plantations such as vineyards and orchards have been cultivated on hillslopes for centuries. In this chapter, we assess the landscape evolution occurred in this study site. Land use changes in the 1954–2000 period were assessed by object-oriented analysis of aerial photographs and quantified by spatial statistics capturing and measuring different elements of landscape change. The expansion of orchards from 1954 to 2000 caused an increase of landscape heterogeneity and the fragmentation of field crops. Orchards expansion has reduced other land uses occupying up to 55 % of former field crops, 24 % of vineyards and 15 % of forests. Changes in rural landscapes, traditionally dominated by vineyards, field crops and forests, were so observed in the Langhe region