Ecosystem Service Valuation and Assessment of a Coastal Ramsar Site in Southwest India

The ecosystems of coastal lakes and wetlands are dynamic and they offer humans a wide range of critical ecosystem services (ESs), such as regulating habitat and cultural services. Regrettably, the undervaluation of these ESs, particularly in tropical nations, results in underinvestment in and deterioration of these natural resources. In this paper, an attempt has been made to study the ESs provided by Ashtamudi lake (ASL), a Ramsar site (8°53’N to 9°2’N and 76°31′E to 76°41′E; Area = 56 km2), located in the coastal zone of SW India. The predominant ESs of ASL are fishing, inland transportation, backwater tourism, aquaculture, shrimp larvae protection, carbon sequestration by mangroves, etc. The ESs were identified and valuation was done using market values and benefit transfer methods for 2017–2018. The total economic value from all the measured services was estimated at US$ 50 million in 2018.