(Lake Victoria Basin Commission Secretariat, 2013) Owuor, J. B. Okeyo; Anderson, Kipkoech; Mogaka Hezron
This paper seeks to examine and assess existing and planned policy, legal and institutional
arrangements of the East Africa Community (EAC) for implementation of Payment for Environmental
Services (PES) schemes. It reviews the various instruments of the EAC and reveals that there are
adequate provisions for initiation and implementation of PES in East Africa’s ecosystems. There are
examples of PES being implemented in Mt Elgon on both the Kenya and Uganda side of the border,
and the Mara River Basin on both the Kenya and Tanzania sides. In the latter, the PES framework is
being developed and coordinated by the EAC and Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).
Payment for Environmental Services schemes are a potential approach to of sustainable
management of the environment and natural resources, while ensuring sustainable ecosystem
services to meet appropriate human and ecological needs in trans-boundary ecosystems of East
Africa.
