Pay : establishing payments for watershed services

For nature to provide clean water, watersheds upstream have to be kept safe and healthy, and soils free from pollution. Once the landscapes that make up watersheds, for example forests, grasslands, cultivated and riparian areas, and wetlands, are disrupted or contaminated, water becomes very expensive to purify.
Watershed degradation can be prevented through investment in the sustainable management of ecosystems. Water payment schemes require careful design and people involved need to understand the benefits and cost associated with creating such markets. This publication provides an overview of the components that must be brought together to establish a payment scheme for watershed services. It sets out how water market and incentive schemes should be designed to maintain water resources, providing examples of systems already in place. It links the most recent practice on payments for hydrological services to current discourse on integrated water resources management and looks into the different aspects to consider when exploring the potential feasibility of establishing rewards or payments for ecosystem services related to water security.
It explains concepts and jargon, and through a series of tools, case studies and stories from around the world, describes pitfalls to avoid and provides hints to fill gaps in knowledge. It is based on a demand-driven approach, linking text, tools and illustrations to key questions emerging from current and potential practitioners.