The contribution of carbon-based payments to wetland conservation compensation on agricultural landscapes

This paper evaluates the potential of payments for carbon sequestered through wetland and riparian conservation, to offset the costs of publicly funded wetland conservation programs. In particular, the research focuses on quantifying the value of carbon sequestered in wetland and riparian zones of the Prairie Pothole Region in the province of Saskatchewan. The analysis examines a number of different program design, targeting alternatives and carbon prices and finds that payments for carbon contribute up to 3% (at $5 t(-1) CO(2)e) and up to 9% (at $15 t(-1) CO(2)e) of the monetary costs to compensate farmers for adopting wetland and riparian conservation management. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.