Pranab Choudhury CGIAR SEMINAR SERIES Payments for Ecosystem Services: Win-Win Solutions? Co-organized by IFPRI, the CGIAR, and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) Session at Tropentag 2023 SEP 21, 2023 - 7:45 TO 9:15AM EDT

1. The Promise of Commons in the context
of PES Markets :
Learning of FES in India
Pranab R Choudhury

2. Promises of Commons :
Potential Economic (Green Market) Opportunities through a System Lens
From a Village Socio-Ecological System (Landscape mosaic)
Pre-production
Production
Pasture
Forest
Farm
Wetlands
Supply
Chain
Economy
Value
Chain
Economy
Post-Production
Village
Landscape
Mosaic
of
Commons
&
Private
X
3
Production
phases
à
4
Eco-Opportunities
Streams

3. Community-Forest Relations/
Stewardship Practices –
Local mechanisms critical for global resilience
GLOCAL benefits (?)
Win-Win for Nature, Community & Market?
Value
Care, Co-
existence
Management
Traditional
Knowledge &
Practices
Governance
Institution,
Tenure,
Gender
Cultural,
Social,
recreational
provisions
Ecosystem
Services
(Carbon,
Biodiversity,
Water,
Nutrition)
Products
Food, NTFP,
Fuelwood,
Fodder,
Timber
Community
Wellbeing &
Commons
Resilience
Climate Action
(PES)
Bundled Ecosystem Products & Services
Global (Regulatory services) & Local
(Provisioning - Food and livelihoods products
& farm-services as well as other socio-
cultural services )

4. Meghalaya & Odisha :
Early Insights into System Thinking of Community, &
Potential Risks from Linear & Commodity approach
Bundled Eco-opportunities
• Forest as source of local food and
medicine
• Timber and Fuel wood
• NTFP – Hill broom for livelihoods
• Watershed and Nutrition services
• Forest Paths – social & recreational
spaces
• Reducing employment/ engagement
with forest
• Increasing extractive actions – stone
quarry, Private timber forests
Forest-People Relations
• Value : Care & Co-existence (view on
pests & wildlife damage in farm to
livestock grazing in forests)
• Governance : Hierarchical Landscape
to Village Tenure – Community-
Individual continuum
• Management : Forest-Pasture- Farm
(Horti-Paddy) continuum, Poh-Bun
system (Shifting Cultivation on Grass
lands), Ethno-silviculture
• Increasing tenure- individualisation,
knowledge erosion, weakening of
local governance
Project Intervention
• PES Scheme in Meghalaya – Copy
book forestry project premised
external knowledge and control –
limited FPIC, risking local
governance, management and value
systems
• JFM & CFR Management overlap in
Odisha : Project based approach
weakening local governance and
knowledge, while rights recognition
potentially reviving community value

5. For a Win- Win Option in PES-Ecosystem
Shift to System approach is Imperative
Carbon
Commodification :
Unbundling of Forest-
People relation;
limited scope of Co-
benefits or Carbon +
Colonial Market Structure &
Dynamics :
Risk to Community Tenure &
Governance, FPIC, fair share &
environmental Justice
Methodology focusing
More on Quality &
Integrity : Challenges
of Additionality for
Community
Colonisation to Communitisation
FPIC + (Project & methodology development, Monitoring, enhanced voice,
participation and share)
Commodification to Bundling
Co-benefits, Carbon+++
Reductionism to Holism
India’s Green Credit, Verra’s Nature Credit
Adding Socio-ecological lens to Science & Market based Approach
Enhancing Community Voice and Engagement of CSO in PES Market

6. Vision – Strengthened stewardship economy and the democratic governance of forests and grazing lands
contributing to global ecosystem service flows and local climate resilient and equitable livelihoods
(Meghalaya and Odisha, India)
Social Outcomes
Strengthened village institutions
and federations with Conflict
resolution mechanism
System Outcomes
THEORY OF CHANGE : FES PES Project (2023-25)
Ecological Outcomes Economic Outcomes
Improved ecological outcomes in
FES project areas
Enhanced income outcomes
Improved capacity of key actors
to implement PES activities/project
Evidence building in favour of
Stewardship
Multi Actor Platforms to collaborate
on PES
Barriers

7. Thanks!
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