Terms of reference

In 'Sustaining a living Wales', the Welsh Government committed to adopting and embedding the ecosystem approach into natural resource management and related decision making processes. With decreasing budgets departments are increasingly seeking new and innovative ways of attracting money into the rural economy as well as maximising the value of every pound invested.

To this end there are many groups working on projects and initiatives that could be classified as payments for ecosystems services with funding from a wide range of sources.

The purpose of this group is to create a community of practice. The aim is to create a hub for groups and individuals to share and discuss the projects they are working on to share experience and offer advice to each other. It will ensure joined up working and avoid duplication of work. It will enable all those working in the area to be aware of other initiatives and learn from their experiences.

Payments for Ecosystems (PES) is a new area of work, many of the projects are new and innovative. Those working on them have the potential to be developing their initiatives in isolation. This group is to support people working in this area and to offer them a place to discuss issues and challenges and share lessons learned. They can also feed directly into Welsh Government policy development on PES.

This group aims to:

1. co-ordinate the implementation of PES projects
2. provide a knowledge exchange for groups working in this area
3. look for opportunities to deliver more within projects
4. look for opportunities for synergies between projects
5. identify barriers and challenges within projects
6. share experiences and ideas
7. provide feedback to the PES steering group
8. offer advice to each other
9. provide direct advice and feedback to the PES steering group
10. meet 2 or 3 times a year.