11 April 2014, IISD news - The Food and Agriculture Organization of  the UN (FAO), the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and the  National Forestry Financing Fund (FONAFIFO) of Costa Rica convened a workshop on  payments for environmental services (PES) aimed at building understanding of the  importance of PES in tropical forests, and sharing best practices and lessons  learned.

The 'International Forum on Payments for Environmental Services of Tropical  Forests' emphasized the importance of the broad range of ecosystem services  provided by tropical forests, including climate change mitigation, protection of  watersheds and the conservation of biodiversity. The meeting highlighted  successful PES mechanisms, such as the PES system in Costa Rica under which,  over 18 years, tropical forest coverage has increased from 29 percent of the  country's terrestrial area to 51 percent.

The meeting also identified a number of criteria for success, including  secure tenure and use rights, adequate funding, supportive policies recognizing  and valuing ecosystem services, and sufficient data and information to monitor  and assess the delivery of ecosystem services. The meeting was held from  7-10 April 2014, in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Source: http://forests-l.iisd.org/news/fao-and-itto-discuss-pes-in-tropical-forests/