Equitable payments for watershed services: Delivering poverty reduction and conservation

WWF, CARE, and IIED launched a joint program in 2006 to establish equitable payments for watershed services (PWS) in ten watersheds in five countries located in Latin America, Africa and Asia (Guatemala, Peru, Tanzania, Indonesia and the Philippines). The ten watersheds selected as project sites all have three features in common: high levels of biodiversity, high rates of land-use change affecting watershed services, and high levels of poverty. The program, which has received funding from the Dutch and Danish governments (DGIS and DANIDA), aims to demonstrate how equitable PWS can reverse forest loss through addressing the core drivers of land-use change, as well as improve livelihoods through various forms of compensation, including direct payments.