Tropical forest services contribute to development goals related to food, water, energy, health, safety, and poverty reduction, in addition to climate and biodiversity. However, precisely quantifying the economic value of forest services can be challenging. And initiatives to “make forests worth more alive than dead” by monetizing their services (e.g. non-timber forest products, ecotourism, bioprospecting, payments for ecosystem services) have had some boutique successes but have not reversed the tide of tropical deforestation. Many of the pitfalls that have constrained previous efforts to value and monetize forest services can potentially be avoided with international carbon payments (i.e. REDD+), yet REDD+ has faced challenges of its own. This Learning Session reviews the latest science and economics of tropical forest services, drawing on two chapters from a new book, Why Forests? Why Now? The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change, by Frances Seymour and Jonah Busch of the Center for Global Development.
