Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) in support of river restoration

A river basin can be viewed as an ecosystem that provides services for the benefit of society. Changes in the ecosystem, for example following river restoration, may lead to changes in its services. This will have negative or positive consequences for stakeholders; in other words: they face changes in costs or benefits. This is the basic notion of the concept of “ecosystem services”. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) might be a solution to balance costs and benefits.