• Offering a healthy environment and setting for care institutions 65 • near woodland and nature areas Here too, a mismatch occurs between the payer and the beneficiary, as the government finances the management and maintenance of a woodland or nature area from generic funds, while the care institution benefits from its favourable location in a healthy environment and green setting. The provision of environmental services, such as CO2 storage/ capture, particle capture, water treatment With the exception of the payment of CO2 storage in newly planted woods, these services are not paid for by the immediate beneficiary of the service such as e.g. transport and industrial companies which, thanks to the proximity of woods, are able to emit more than if these woods had not existed. In other words, the woods help the companies stay within the particle emission limits. Step 2: Trends The next step involved identifying a number of trends which may be of influence, now or in the future, on the financing of services and products from woodland and nature areas. The most important trends are: • Climate change; • Advent of the bio-based economy (biomass as a raw material for energy generation, chemicals, etc); • Growing recognition and assignment of value to environmental functions and eco-system services that are provided by woodland and nature areas; • Growing demand for recreation, health and ‘wellness’; • Growing local involvement in and entitlement to nature; • Growing interest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the increasing willingness of the private sector (business & industry, financial sector, consumers) to take or share responsibility for financing woodland and nature. Step 3: Analysis Given the insufficient or non-valuation of products and services, the identified bottlenecks and mismatches in the existing financing methods and the current trends, we can conclude that the main opportunities at present lie in the financing of woodland and nature in (1) social services, such as offering a location and setting for recreation, sports, care and health, and homes and (2) environmental services, such as CO2 storage, water storage/treatment and particle capture. An important role is reserved here for private financing, including payments from ‘free riders’, i.e. recipients of services from woodland and nature who currently pay little or nothing (either directly or indirectly) for the benefits they receive. One option, for instance, would be to create a regional fund financed by recreational entrepreneurs who enjoy extra income thanks to the presence of a ‘green setting’. These funds could then be used for woodland and nature maintenance. As for the government, besides providing direct financing, its main role lies in creating the right conditions for encouraging, implementing and consolidating innovation. In doing so, the guiding principle should be ‘centralized management where necessary, decentralized where possible’. Amongst other things, this Pagina 73

Pagina 75

Scoor meer met een webshop in uw reclamefolders. Velen gingen u voor en publiceerden cursussen online.

476 Lees publicatie 170Home