Assessing the Ecosystem Services of Wetlands: A Case Study from North 24 Parganas District, West Bengal
摘要
Wetlands are specific regions where water is present either at or near the surface of the soil or covers it all around the year or for varying periods of time during the year. Wetland ecosystem services (WES) are ranked the first among all kinds of natural ecosystems. The value of WES is expected to be 47% of the total value of the global ecosystem, yet the Ramsar Convention reports degrading conditions of wetlands worldwide, creating greater economic losses. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, Ecosystems and human well-being: wetland ecosystem services. Island Press, 2005) classifies provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting services of the ecosystems, and thus the wetland values affect three levels of biological hierarchy to include population, eco-system, and global. The Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules 2017, formulated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, prescribe various measures to improve the wetlands across the country. However, with rapid urbanization, these wetlands are fast degenerating, depleting, and engulfed into urban land use. An effective way to create awareness regarding their restoration is by estimating the cost-benefit analysis of the WES. This chapter elaborates the techniques of calculating ecosystem services, its benefits, and challenges when computing in wetlands of Lower Gangetic Delta region. Moreover, it also assesses its relevance to the wetlands commonly called “Baorh” in North 24 Pargana district of West Bengal, India. The environmental changes and the ecosystem services of the wetlands have been studied at a regional level with special focus on the Kankona Baorh, which have been studied using both primary and secondary data, photographs, and interviews along with geospatial mapping techniques. In this study, both primary and secondary data were collected, like fishing data, photographs, and local resident interviews along with published references. The gradual degradation of the lake can be observed from the study; however, assessing the importance, the need for conservation and proper management through the government and community participation is of utmost necessity.