In Italy, the payment of ecosystem services through water tariffs and the additional fees of the Bim Consortia (Mountain Watersheds) constitute fundamental mechanisms for maintaining environmental balance and the socio-economic development of mountain territories.
This is what emerged from the Position Paper on ecosystem services of the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS), presented today in Parma.
Among the other main activities with which to protect ecosystem services, the study illustrates the functioning of territorial equalization, an urban planning technique used to guarantee a uniform building value for the properties involved in territorial transformation.
A practice already developed in Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna.
At the presentation, the experience of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park was cited, which extends over a biosphere reserve of 500 thousand hectares.
The Park has launched an innovative initiative to promote environmental sustainability through the sale of "sustainability credits" and "carbon credits" on the voluntary market, which recognize the essential role of forests in absorbing CO2 and offering other ecosystem services.
Through agreements with large collective properties, the Park has guaranteed the credibility of these credits, certified by international organizations including Pefc Italia and Fsc.
The ASviS Position Paper puts forward a series of proposals to promote territorial sustainability on a national scale.
Among these: the adoption of the ecosystem guidelines of the Emilia-Romagna Region;
the development of an economic-environmental accounting system;
the extension of equalization funds; the extension of Psea (Payment for Ecosystem Services);
the diffusion of the experience of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines National Park to other Parks.
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