Economic valuation of ecosystem services in a Himalayan protected area

Abstract Protected areas play a crucial role in the conservation of biodiversity and provide precious ecosystem services. The protected areas in the Himalaya—a global biodiversity hotspot—provide life-supporting ecosystem services, and the latter have remained scientifically understudied and economically undervalued in management planning of these critical natural areas. In this study, we aimed to identify the various ecosystem services furnished by Overa-Aru wildlife sanctuary to the local communities in Kashmir Himalaya; and also undertook economic valuation of the provisioning ecosystem services provided by the sanctuary. Using random sampling approach, we conducted focussed group discussions and semi-structured interviews of 100 respondents using a questionnaire for data collection on ecosystem services, and also employed multiple methods for the economic valuation of provisioning ecosystem services. The respondents identified 14 ecosystem services, with 100% response for regulatory, followed by provisioning (61%) and cultural services (45%). The total economic value (TEV) of the provisioning ecosystem services provided by the sanctuary for each household/year amounted to US$ 15911.39 . The provisioning service with highest economic value was livestock rearing (7066.82 ± 674.94 US$/yr) and the lowest value was for animal-based energy resource (5.56 ± 0.95 US$/yr). In terms of contribution of each provisioning service to TEV, the water for household purposes and livestock contributed highest with 43.53% and 36.41% respectively. Our findings revealed a substantial decline in forest-based provisioning ecosystem services utilized by the local communities over the years. Based on the insights gained from the present study, we suggest recommendations for integration of ecosystem services in the management planning of this protected area, with promise of upscaling elsewhere in the Himalaya. The present study, using ecosystem services framework, adopts a nature-based solutions approach to reconcile the conservation and livelihood needs in protected area management, which in turn will be crucial in achieving the regional sustainable development goals.