Lessons for REDDplus: A comparative analysis of the German discourse on forest functions and the global ecosystem services debate

This paper compares the historic German discourse on forest functions with the current international debate on ecosystem services and analyzes the factors that may have triggered or inhibited the development and the institutionalization of both underlying concepts and subordinate debates. Ultimately, this comparison aims at drawing conclusions for the present debate on the currently negotiated REDDplus mechanism which can be considered as a major effort to upscale payments for environmental services.