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Markets for ecosystem services (MES) can play a key role in the protection of natural capital and the remuneration of sustainable management practices. This study aims to present the state of the art on forestry MES at the international level through a systematic review. The main objectives are (i) to analyse the distribution of actual or potential markets for forest ecosystem services (FES) that exist internationally today, (ii) to identify the spatial scale at which market-based instruments (MBIs) are applied and the respective measures of economic value used to assess FES, and (iii) to identify the actors and their involvement in the implementation of forestry MES. The study collected 304 peer-reviewed publications using the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol was used to guide the systematic process and select the 52 articles analysed in the review. The results show that Europe is the most representative continent in terms of geographical areas involved (n = 8) by forestry MES, followed by America (n = 6), Asia (n = 5), and Africa (n = 1). The main scale of application of MBIs for forestry MES is local, i.e., at the level of forest stand, municipality, or province (n = 31), followed by subnational (n = 10), national (n = 9), and international (n = 2). The main pattern of social composition in forestry MES is buyers, sellers, and intermediaries (n = 25), followed by buyers and sellers only (n = 12), buyers, sellers, intermediaries, and knowledge providers (n = 5), and buyers, sellers, and knowledge providers (n = 3). In terms of the measure of economic value, most studies use willingness to accept (n = 30), as opposed to willingness to pay (n = 17), and only 5 studies used both. Future research on forestry MES should be directed towards a better understanding of the process leading to their creation, implementation, effectiveness, governance, and level of satisfaction in economic terms of the actors involved. Key words: market for ecosystem services (MES), payments for ecosystem services (PES), market-based instruments (MBIs), PRISMA protocol, PICO framework, 1. Introduction 1.1. Natural capital accounting In recent years, natural capital--defined as a stock of nonrenewable and renewable resources including the production of ecosystem services and life-support functions (De Groot [...]

Forest certifications aim to promote sustainable forest management through the certification of forest products derived from forests managed according to a set of guidelines. However, managing a forest following the sustainability benchmarks indicated by the different certification systems has a higher cost than non-certified forests. This cost difference is therefore reflected in products made from these certified forests. An Environmentally Certified Timber Product (ECTP), in fact, should be more expensive than its identical competitor made from non-certified wood because of its higher management and chain of custody costs. The purpose of this review is to highlight how, over the past decade (2010–2020), customer willingness to pay (WTP) for ECTPs has been estimated and what parameters lead consumers to choose ECTPs. Results revealed several methodologies for estimating WTP, the main one being Contingent Valuation, although Discrete Choice Experiments would seem to be more effective. In monetary terms, the average WTP obtained ranges from 17% for products with a higher base price, such as furniture, up to 68% for those with a lower price, such as paper. Finally, several parameters drive consumers to choose ECTPs, such as socio-demographic factors, prior knowledge of brands and labels, and choice of product attributes.

This study analysed the main aspects of the communication of local beekeepers on their websites, to identify the most popular elements and to check whether companies communicate differently. A Web Content Analysis of all textual material on Piedmontese beekeeping websites was carried out, taking into consideration all variables such as domain authority, monthly organic traffic, backlinks and the presence (or absence) of the company on social media. The main findings highlighted a low differentiation between communication strategies related to honey organoleptic and sensorial characteristics. Claims concerning the Gastronomic pairings, Quality and certification, Links to territory and Organic honey categories were the most widespread current on beekeeping websites, while there was slight information related to health aspects and ethical/social sustainability. This research has identified a trend in the communication strategies of beekeeping companies that deviates from classic agribusiness strategies in terms of innovation, value creation and product and brand differentiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Payments for ecosystem services are a voluntary market-based instrument to remunerate provider(s) of ecosystem services by those who benefit from them. Our research aimed to create an ex post evaluation framework to identify bottlenecks and elements hindering the success of a solution-driven PES scheme. The framework was applied to a case study to assess its feasibility and concerns the provision of health and recreational services in the Medvednica Nature Park (Zagreb, Croatia). The framework was set up through three main sources: the study of PES implementation project documentation, semi-structured interviews with visitors and key stakeholders, and web-scraping of TripAdvisor reviews of the park. The main findings confirm society's interest in the park, but the lack of mapping, quantification, and accounting of the services analysed, the little or no demand from society to pay for their provision, and confused knowledge of the property rights of some ecosystem service providers in the area limit the success of the PES scheme. The framework was useful to describe the chosen PES scheme and to identify bottlenecks and fragilities of the system in place, allowing it to correct its application flaws and, on the other hand, to demonstrate its replicability in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]