Written by Chantal van Ham, Thomas Greiber, Gerben Janse and Marta Gaworska, this study explores the state of development of forest-groundwater related payments for environmental services (PES) schemes in the European Union. It shows that PES structures already exist in a number of EU member states, which fund afforestation and sustainable management practices and thus support, maintain, and even develop the protective functions of forests with regards to groundwater.