The Republic of Ghana 'one of Africa's stable democracies'  faces on-going overexploitation of its natural resources resulting in huge financial losses and serious implications for the poor. The EU financed project ''Tropical Forests and Climate Adaptation'' tries to identify appropriate instruments to finance adaptation measures to climate change. One of these financing tools could be Payments for Environmental Services - PES.
 
A study by Humboldt University Berlin has revealed that PES very much depends on the right institutional framework. High opportunity costs, a lack of security in land use rights between landowners and land users, unequal distribution of yields from timber use and the lack of interest in sustainable biodiversity conservation limit the possibilities for efficient PES systems. Marketable non-timber forest products and water, as products linked to biodiversity-related PES models, enhance the local poor population's adaptability to possible negative impacts of climate change. 

Christian Staiss
Seminar für Ländliche Entwicklung (SLE) Humboldt-Universität
Berlin, Germany
cstaiss@gmx.de
 
Jens Boy, Bettina Kupper, Jane Mertens, Philipp Schwörer and Silvia Ullrich
Young professionals of the SLE