Paying for Water-related Forest Services: A Survey on Italian Payment Mechanisms

The paper reviews the state of implementation of one of the most relevant mechanisms of payments for environmental services (PES) in the forestry sector: the systems of payments for water-related forest services. Three water services with economic relevance are analyzed with reference to the Italian context: hydropower generation, tap-water supply and mineral water use by industry. Using the consolidated definition of PES as a basis for the analysis and considering the regulatory framework on water, we compared the three water-related services to describe the strengths and weaknesses in environmental services provision. From the analysis we deduced that pure PES schemes do not exist in the water sector in Italy, while PES-like schemes driven by public authorities have a relatively long and consolidated tradition but need to be better oriented and more widely implemented in order to compensate the providers of the services.