Ecosystem services: adaptation pathways and opportunities

[Extract] In this chapter, we compile climate change adaptation options for ecosystem services for the Wet Tropics Cluster (WTC) region, derived from the Australian literature and elsewhere. We focus particularly on water regulation, climate regulation, carbon sequestration, agricultural production, timber production, habitat provision, erosion control, and traditional values. We also discuss emerging opportunities that may become available in WTC region in the future, bring together the limitations and constraints of current payments for carbon abatement and discuss possible ways to establish payments for ecosystem services through examination of examples from across the world that may be applied to the WTC region. Finally, we discuss the barriers to climate adaptation in regard to ecosystem services