Valuation of Ecosystem Services
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Ecosystem services can be described as all those visible and invisible benefits provided by the complex interaction of physical, chemical and biological properties of the environment. Natural landscapes such as forests, grasslands, mangroves and wetlands as well as managed ecosystems provide a range of ‘services’ to sustain human welfare. The services from these ecosystems include ‘provisioning’ services (food, water, timber, fibre and genetic resources) ‘regulating’ services (climate regulation, floods/drought regulation, water quality management and disease prevention),‘supporting’ services (soil formation, pollination, pest management, nutrient cycling) and ‘cultural’ services (recreational, spiritual, religious). Due to the complex nature, even sophisticated technologies find it difficult to mimic it. But the importance of ecosystem services are not properly realised and recognised adequately in economic markets, government policies or land management practices. As a result, ecosystems and the services they provide are on decline, in quality and quantity. The societal, political and economic interventions in conservation and judicious use of ecosystem services can be improved if the economic value/worth of these services are estimated and projected. Such an attempt at local, regional and global level assumes relevance in this perspective. Assessing ecosystem service value thus is a prerequirement for attaining millennium development goals (MDGs) through sustainable production approaches. The theme for discussion in the conference was intended to focus on agroecosystems that are interrelated with agricultural production systems and those that affect the livelihood of large masses of poor. Thus the broad areas suggested were , valuation of externalities associated with the agricultural technologies and net impacts, farming systems, agroecosystems and environmental impact valuation, forest types and Total Economic Value, value of environmental impact of land use changes, evaluation and policy impacts, climate change impacts on ecosystem and its valuation and methodological challenges to valuation of ecosystems. The discussions are grouped under five headings, basically following the ecosystem approach.