Healthy and well-functioning ecosystems provide services that are fundamental to the human wellbeing. Valuable ecosystem functions and characteristics, such as providing clean air, pure water, rich soil, and healthy biological activity are embedded in virtually every product we buy, but their contributions are often neglected and unvalued. Ecosystems also provide a host of benefits that never enter the market system but nevertheless provide huge direct benefits to people. In WIO region, coastal and marine ecosystems provide critical but undervalued ecosystem services, supporting not only coastal inhabitants but all life on the planet. For instance, mangrove and seagrass beds play important roles of, protecting shorelines from erosion, providing habitat for fish and other wildlife, as well mitigating climate change effects through carbon sequestration. Payment for ecosystem services (PES) is a market-based conservation tool that aims to reward landowners and custodians for protection of ecosystem services (ES) their land provides. PES provides a financial incentive for conservation and even restoration in return. Custodians are contractually obliged to undertake land use practices that will ensure continued supply of ecosystem services
