The production and marketing of forest goods and services are strongly influenced by legal conditions. Civil law lays down who is proprietor of something, who may determine over it and to what extent. The commercialization of the three ecosystem services “water filtration”, “carbon storage” and “protection from natural hazards” is confined to certain limits by the law of property. With the exception of carbon storage, the possibilities are further limited by the forest and water legislation of Confederation and the cantons. The subsidy regulations in forest law do however offer the possibility of setting mechanisms into motion for cooperative services which resemble commercialization. If these initial approaches are to be further developed or to become the rule, changes in legislation will become necessary in civil as well as in public law.

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