It's rather abstract, but in many ways perhaps similar to paying a groundskeeper to take care of the landscaping, or a contractor to maintain a road. Especially

It's rather abstract, but in many ways perhaps similar to paying a groundskeeper to take care of the landscaping, or a contractor to maintain a road. Especially if "strings" are later added to the payments, for example if your payment is modulated by an evaluation of the health of your forest.