Abstract
Earth’s ecosystem provides various services, crucial for human well-being and economic development. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) stated that the ecosystems have seriously changed in the past century. Though these changes have raised human well-being and economic development in some parts of the world, but there is a noticeable deterioration of the ecosystem services (ESS). ESS has been getting increasing attention of researchers and policymakers around the globe.
Amongst different dimensions of ESS, valuation, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration have dominated the major funding initiatives and national/international deliberations, thereby facilitating research and policies at various levels. Be it ‘the economics of ecology and biodiversity (TEEB)’ or the ‘access and benefit sharing (ABS)’, their ultimate aim is resource conservation and benefit sharing amongst stakeholders. Many efforts, such as MEA, REDD, TEEB, BESS, IPCC, UNFCC, CBD, ABS, CDM, REDD, Watershed Development Projects, etc., originating from different agencies and agreements, are mainly confined to the limited domain by involving preferred agencies in implementation. This results in incoherence, duplication of efforts and confusion in extension of programmes at micro level. The paper tries to review evolution of major global initiatives in valuation and preservation of ecosystem services and explore the issues for better convergence and governance for the effective planning and programme execution at field level. It will not only help in bridging the gap between research and policy, but also help in devising a simple roadmap for better synchronization and inclusiveness of programme implementation.