Social Valuation of Ecosystem Services in Kalsa-Gola sub-watershed of Kumaun Himalayas

Ecosystem services (ES) are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being, arising from interactions between ecosystems and societies. Traditional assessments often overlook the diverse and intangible values that people place on nature by focusing primarily on monetary valuations. This study addresses this gap by conducting a social valuation of ES in the Kalsa-Gola sub-watershed of the Kumaun Himalayas. Through participatory workshops, we identified 29 ES, categorized into provisioning (10), regulating (8), cultural (7), and supporting services (4). A survey of 386 respondents, including downstream, upstream communities and key informants, utilized the photo elicitation method to rank the identified ES. A multi-criteria decision analysis tool, i.e., Weighted Sum Model (WSM) was applied using the linear inverse method to quantify the Social Value Index (SVI) of the ES. The most prioritized ES according to the SVI were provisioning services (water, fuelwood), regulating services (air quality maintenance, local climate regulation), cultural services (scenic beauty, ecotourism and recreation), and supporting services (biodiversity, habitat provision). These services had the highest SVI due to their critical importance for daily sustenance, environmental health, contribution to recreation and aesthetics, and in preserving the region’s ecological integrity, respectively. Additionally, Correspondence Analysis (CA) was employed to uncover patterns in how ES were ranked across different categories, revealing similarities and differences in their preferences. These findings offer crucial insights for policymakers and conservationists, emphasizing the integration of local perceptions into environmental decision-making to support both social welfare and biodiversity conservation in the Kumaun Himalayas.