This presentation given at the 2003 Katoomba Group meeting in Switzerland outlines a project by WWF in Central America to develop a Water Fund that would engage willing and financially able water users to pay for water related ecosystem services from the Sierra de las Minas Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala. The presentation outlines the steps to create a financial linkage between ecosystem services and the benefits to downstream users, as well as the watershed management opportunities to sustain and enhance these ecosystem services. The presentation concludes with an important set of considerations for anyone attempting to establish a market system for ecosystem services.
