Evaluating Ecosystem Health: A Study on Asansol–Durgapur Development Region, West Bengal, India

For effective ecosystem governance on a regional and global level, dynamic ecosystem healthEcosystem health (EH) monitoring and assessment are essential. The vigor–organization–resilienceResilience (V–O–R)Vigor-Organsiation-Resilience (V–O–R) model is used in the current study to evaluate the Asansol–Durgapur Development RegionAsansol Durgapur Development Region's ecosystem healthEcosystem health. The landscape’s vigor, organization, and elasticity were measured using landscape metrics. The findings show an increase in settlement areas from 3.29% in 1990 to 7.20% in 2020 and an increase in agricultural croplands from 57.63% in 1990 to 73.44% in 2020. On the contrary, vegetation decreased from 28.84% in 1990 to 17.35% in 2020. EH decreased from 0.86 to 0.38 between 1990 and 2020, and good EH decreased from 33.66 to 3.51%. Alternately, weak EH increased during this period, reaching 66.70%. Increasing agricultural lands and urban areas is responsible for the deterioration of EH in this region. The findings of this study also provide policymakers with a better understanding of EH in the Asansol–Durgapur Development Area, which will help them develop eco-environmental management strategiesManagement strategies.