| Summary: | In Italy, olive farming is one of the most interesting examples of carbon sink in
agricultural soils. The olive agro-ecosystems can in fact ensure effective action in CO2
fixation encouraging the process of carbon storage on the organic matter of the soil. Starting
from the assumption that a different and more “carbon oriented” management of Italian
olive groves system could represent a promising way to increase the carbon stored in
agricultural land, this paper explores the possibility to implement a Payment for Ecosystem
Services (PES) scheme to increase the provision of carbon sink by olive groves. The analysis
focuses on the definition of the sealable ecosystem service, according to the actual policy
framework and on the mode of payment that could be established. Results, suggest that an
output-based payment, though more environmentally efficient, could not be enough to
incentivise farmers to join the PES, as the payment per hectare might be lower using this
approach.
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