Wetlands are productive ecosystems providing an array of services that sustain the well-being of dependent biota. Post industrialization and globalization era witnessed a spurt in the anthropogenic activities leading to the degradation and decline of fragile ecosystems. This necessitates the conservation of vital ecosystems through sustainable management tenets, which requires an understanding of the livelihood support of ecosystems. The focus of the current study is to understand the worth of wetlands through the accounting of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services. The provisional services through accounting of tangible benefits (fish, fodder, water, etc.) considering residual values indicate an annual revenue of 49.70 billion rupees. Similarly, accounting of non-use values of ecosystems through the benefit transfer method indicates regulating and cultural services support of 196.89; and 37.93 billion rupees/year, respectively. The annual flow of total ecosystem supply value accounts for 284.52 billion rupees/year and the net present value amounts to 7320.6 billion rupees, which signifies the ecological, social-cultural, and environmental support wetland provides ecosystems in Karnataka. Appraisal of ecosystem services (ES) allows for adjusted national accounts which reflect the output of ecosystem services as well as the depletion of natural resources and the degradation costs (externalized costs of the loss of ecosystem services) of ecosystems in economic terms, which will help raise awareness and provide a quantitative tool to evaluate the sustainability of policies toward prudent management and conservation of fragile livelihood supporting ecosystems. The monetary valuation of ecosystem services can help in building a better understanding of their influence on well-being and can further facilitate information-driven decisions and policy reforms that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the wise use of natural resources.
Keywords: Wetlands, Microalgae, Fish, Macrophyte, SEEA, Ecosystem service, Provisioning service, Cultural service, Regulating service, Total ecosystem supply value (TESV), Net present value (NPV), Karnataka