Advances in Geosciences www.adv-geosci.net 1680-7340 1680-7359 27 Hydrologic Modelling for the Assessment of Ecosystem Services and Landscape Functions 2010 10.5194/adgeo-27-21-2010 http://www.adv-geosci.net/27/21/2010/ http://www.adv-geosci.net/27/21/2010/adgeo-27-21-2010.html http://www.adv-geosci.net/27/21/2010/adgeo-27-21-2010.pdf 21 27 2010-08-25 Payment schemes for hydrological ecosystem services as a political instrument for the sustainable management of natural resources and poverty reduction – a case study from Belén, Nicaragua J. Hack hack@ihwb.tu-darmstadt.de Section of Engineering Hydrology and Water Management, Darmstadt, Germany The importance of intact ecosystems for human-wellbeing as well as the dependence on functions and services they provide is undoubted. But still neither the costs of ecosystem degradation nor the benefits from ecosystem functions and services appear on socio-economic balance sheets when development takes place. Consequently overuse of natural resources is socio-economically promoted by conventional resource management policies and external effects (externalities), equally positives and negatives, remain unregarded. <br><br> In this context the potential of payments for hydrological ecosystem services as a political instrument to foster sustainable natural resource use, and rural development shall be investigated. This paper introduces the principle concept of such payments, presents a case study from Nicaragua and highlights preliminary effects of the application of this instrument on natural resource use and development. Acuña, E., Aguirre, C., and Zelaya, C.: Suelos, Capacidad de Uso de la Tierra y Conflictos de Uso en el Municipio Belén, Tech. rep., Asociación de Municipios de Rivas (AMUR), Alcaldia Municipal de Belén, 2008a. Acuña, E., Aguirre, C., and Zelaya, C.: Suelos, Capacidad de Uso de la Tierra y Conflictos de Uso en el Municipio Potos\'i, Tech. rep., Asociación de Municipios de Rivas (AMUR), Alcaldia Municipal de Potos\'i, 2008b. Acuña, E., Aguirre, C., and Zelaya, C.: Suelos, Capacidad de Uso de la Tierra y Conflictos de Uso en el Municipio Buenos Aires, Tech. rep., Asociación de Municipios de Rivas (AMUR), Alcaldia Municipal de Buenos Aires, 2008c. CIRA: Calidad y Disponibilidad del Agua de la subcuenca del R\'io Gil González en el área de influencia Municipal de Belén y Potos\'i: Un aporte de información cient\'ifico-técnica para el desarrollo de una estrategia de gestión integral, Centro de Investigación de Recursos Acuaticos, 2007. Coase, R H.: The Problem of Social Cost, J. Law Econ., 3, p 1, \doi10.1086/466560, available at: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/466560 (last access: 13~August 2010), 1960. El Presidente de la Rep\'ublica de Nicaragua: Ley General de Aguas Nacionales, Ley No 620 – La Gaceta No 169, 2007. INIDE: VIII censo de población y IV de vivienda, censo 2005, Rep\'ublica de Nicaragua, Instituto Nacional de Estad\'isticas y Censos, Managua, 2007. Mayrand, K. and Paquin, M.: Payments for Environmental Services: A Survey and Assessment of Current Schemes, Unisféra International Centre, Montreal, available at: http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/ECONOMY/PES-Unisfera_en.pdf (last access: 13~August 2010), 2004. Pagiola, S., Arcenas, A., and Platais, G.: Can Payments for Environmental Services Help Reduce Poverty? An Exploration of the Issues and the Evidence to Date from Latin America, World Development, 33, 237–253, 2005. Rodr\'iguez, I., Aguirre, C., and Mendoza, B.: Actualización del estado del recurso suelo y capacidad de uso de la tierra del municipio Belén, Tech. rep., Universidad Nacional Agraria (UNA) – Facultad de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente – Departamento de Manejo de Cuencas y Gestión Ambiental, 2003a. Rodr\'iguez, I., Aguirre, C., and Mendoza, B.: Estado de los Suelos y Capacidad de Uso de la Tierra en el municipio Belén, Tech. rep., UNA – Facultad de Recursos Naturales y del Ambiente - Departamento de Manejo de Cuencas y Gestión Ambiental, 2003b. Southgate, D. and Wunder, S.: Paying for Watershed Services in Latin America: A Review of Current Initiatives, Office of International Research, Education, and Development, 07, 2007.