An Introduction to the Conceptual Basis of RUPES

Payments for environmental services are normally discussed in terms of 'buyers' and 'sellers' - as if there are only two sides of a coin. Taking this analogy, we may see the 'brokers' (those that act as a third party between the buyers and the sellers) as the third side of the coin. However, the chance that a coin will land on this side and reach a stable equilibrium is small - it normally falls to either of the two other sides.

What is presented are twenty 'aspects' of Rewarding the Upland Poor in Asia for Environmental Services They Provide (RUPES), suggesting that rewarding upland poor for environmental services ES is a well-polished diamond, rather than a coin. All these aspects can co-exist and all reveal insights into what is at the core, yet none of them are the full and only truth.

Overall it is hoped that this collection of aspects can stimulate the wider intellectual debate and practical exploration and testing that we need to achieve the double goals of poverty alleviation and environmental protection that the world community has set itself as Millennium Development Goals.