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The value of ecosystem services in the high altitude Spiti Valley, Indian Trans-Himalaya

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  • Murali, Ranjini
  • Redpath, Stephen
  • Mishra, Charudutt

Abstract

The high mountain ranges of South and Central Asia are increasingly being exposed to large-scale development projects. These areas are home to traditional pastoralist communities and internationally important biodiversity including the endangered snow leopard Panthera uncia. Development projects rely on economic cost-benefit analysis, but the ecosystem services in the high Himalayas are poorly understood and are rarely accounted for. As a first step to fill this gap, we identified the main ecosystem services used by local people in the Trans-Himalayan Spiti Valley (7591 km2), a region important for conservation of snow leopards and high mountain biodiversity, and undertook an economic valuation. Stakeholders identified a range of services, though these were dominated by provisioning services identified by 90% of respondents. Only 5.4% of the respondents recognised regulatory services and 4.8% recognised cultural services. The mean economic value of provisioning services was estimated at US$ 3622 ± 149 HH−1 yr−1, which was 3.8 times higher than the average annual household income. Our results underscore the need to account for ecosystem services in the cost-benefit analyses of large-scale development projects in addition to assessments of their environmental and social impact.

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  • Murali, Ranjini & Redpath, Stephen & Mishra, Charudutt, 2017. "The value of ecosystem services in the high altitude Spiti Valley, Indian Trans-Himalaya," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 28(PA), pages 115-123.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoser:v:28:y:2017:i:pa:p:115-123
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.10.018
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    1. Wajid Rashid & Jianbin Shi & Inam ur Rahim & Muhammad Qasim & Muhammad Naveed Baloch & Eve Bohnett & Fangyuan Yang & Imran Khan & Bilal Ahmad, 2021. "Modelling Potential Distribution of Snow Leopards in Pamir, Northern Pakistan: Implications for Human–Snow Leopard Conflicts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-14, November.
    2. Murali, Ranjini & Suryawanshi, Kulbushansingh & Redpath, Stephen & Nagendra, Harini & Mishra, Charudutt, 2019. "Changing use of ecosystem services along a rural-urban continuum in the Indian Trans-Himalayas," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    3. Acharya, Ram Prasad & Maraseni, Tek & Cockfield, Geoff, 2020. "Assessing the financial contribution and carbon emission pattern of provisioning ecosystem services in Siwalik forests in Nepal: Valuation from the perspectives of disaggregated users," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    4. Shrestha, Kripa & Shakya, Bandana & Adhikari, Biraj & Nepal, Mani & Shaoliang, Yi, 2023. "Ecosystem services valuation for conservation and development decisions: A review of valuation studies and tools in the Far Eastern Himalaya," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Saeed, Uzma & Arshad, Muhammad & Hayat, Shakeel & Morelli, Toni Lyn & Ali Nawaz, Muhammad, 2022. "Analysis of provisioning ecosystem services and perceptions of climate change for indigenous communities in the Western Himalayan Gurez Valley, Pakistan," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    6. Hameeda Sultan & Wajid Rashid & Jianbin Shi & Inam ur Rahim & Mohammad Nafees & Eve Bohnett & Sajid Rashid & Muhammad Tariq Khan & Izaz Ali Shah & Heesup Han & Antonio Ariza-Montes, 2022. "Horizon Scan of Transboundary Concerns Impacting Snow Leopard Landscapes in Asia," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-22, February.

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