Appraisal of Forest Ecosystems Goods and Services: Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation
T. V.Ramachandra1, 2, 3,  Divya Soman1  Ashwath D. Naik1  M. D. Subash Chandran1  
1Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES)
2 Centre for Sustainable Technologies (ASTRA)
3Centre for infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CiSTUP) Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, Karnataka, India
Telephone: 91-80-23600985, 22932506, 22933099, Fax: 91-80-23601428, 23600085, 23600683
 *Corresponding Author: tvr@iisc.ac.in,energy.ces@iisc.ac.in

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Ecosystem services and the natural capital stocks of the Western Ghats forests make significant direct and indirect contributions to national economies and human welfare. Forests, both natural and planted, and including trees spread across the terrain, have a critical role in the ecology, aesthetics and recreational benefits. The goods and services derived from forest ecosystem are categorized as provisional goods and services, regulating services, cultural services and supporting services (MEA 2003). Land use analysis (Table 6) show that Supa taluk has highest forest area (1635 sq.km) and Bhatkal has lowest spatial extent of forests (217 sq.km). Evergreen to semi evergreen type of vegetation cover is about 3946 sq.km (53 %), followed by moist deciduous type (1533 sq.km). Area under monoculture plantations is about 1283 sq.km (17.24 %).

S. No. Taluk Evergreen forest Semi evergreen to Moist deciduous Dry deciduous forest Teak / Bamboo Plantations Scrub forest/ Grass lands Acacia/ Eucalyptu splantations Total
1 Ankola 53943 8227 0 62 4598 6911 73741
2 Bhatkal 15189 5335 0 130 230 851 21734
3 Haliyal 9853 11609 1253 7720 2532 16062 49030
4 Honnavar 36782 6403 0 0 1508 4007 48700
5 Karwar 39176 9264 0 0 1878 4097 54414
6 Kumta 19873 10697 0 0 746 4615 35931
7 Mundgod 1161 3047 171 10080 1554 16144 32156
8 Siddapur 35882 10214 0 124 3479 9615 59315
9 Sirsi 24666 44070 0 1670 2620 20133 93159
10 Supa 124118 21923 0 492 6090 10882 163504
11 Yellapura 34003 22541 0 15108 5987 35017 112656
District Total 394645 153330 1424 35385 31223 128334 744341
% 53.02 20.60 0. 19 4. 75 4. 19 17.24 100.00
Table 6: Talukwise area under different types of forest (in hectares)

Provisioning Goods and Services

Based on the consideration and inclusion of various components in ecological perspectives, total value of provisioning goods and services are presented in scenarios as follows:

  1. Scenario - I: provisional services include timber, NTFP, litter and mulching leaves, fodder, medicinal plants, fuel wood, food,
    inland fishing and hydrological services
  2. Scenario - II: components in Scenario-I and wild fruits
  3. Scenario - III: components in Scenario-II and oxygen services
The estimated total value of provisioning goods and services for Uttara Kannada district per year for three different scenarios are presented in Table 7, which reveals the value of goods and services from forests in Uttara Kannada district ranges from INR 97.07 billion per year (scenario 1) to 151.71 billion per year (scenario 3).
Scenario Value of provisioning goods and services (in Rs. crores) Values of provisioning goods and services (Billion Rs)
Scenario I 9707 97.07
Scenario II 11842 118.42
Scenario III 15171 151.71
Table 7: Provisioning goods and services (different scenarios) for Uttara Kannada Goods derived from the forests were quantified as discussed earlier and details are:
  • Timber: Timber accounts to Rs. 1,457 crores per year with the share of 10 percent in scenario – III of the total value of provisioning goods and services obtained from the forest.
  • NTFP: NTFP being the largest contributor among all the components of provisioning goods and services is estimated at Rs. 3,601 crores per year for the district.
  • Litter and Mulching Leaves: Litter and mulching leaves which is a vital component of sustainable agricultural system of the district is valued at Rs. 689 crores per year.
  • Fodder: The value of total fodder productivity in the forests of the district is valued at Rs. 205 crores per year.
  • Medicinal Plants: The value of medicinal plants that has been estimated from the benefit transfer method and extrapolated to the different types of forest is found to be worth of Rs. 25 crores per year.
  • Fuel Wood: Forest, being the important source of energy for domestic and various commercial purposes in the district supplies fuel wood of Rs. 366 crores per year.
  • Food: The value of various food products extracted from forest is of worth Rs. 59 per year. Further the inland fishing in the district is valued at Rs. 22 crores per year.
  • Hydrological Services: The total value of water usage for domestic purpose, industrial purpose, agricultural, water requirement for livestock, power generation and ecological water was termed as hydrological services from the forests. It was found that the forests in the district provide hydrological services of worth Rs. 2,313 crores per year.
  • Wild Fruits: Wild fruits being the important component in ecological sustenance of forest ecosystem are being valued at Rs. 1,922 crores per year that is obtained from the forests of entire district.
  • Oxygen: The value of oxygen which is computed by benefit transfer method. The result of the study shows that the total forests in the district supplies the oxygen to the atmosphere of worth Rs. 3,000 crores per year. Further, 10 percent of the total value of provisioning services supplied from forest being considered as miscellaneous benefits that are derived from forest ecosystem is of value Rs. 1517 crores per year (for scenario – III).
In all the three scenarios, NTFP is the major contributor to the total value. The share of the value of food, inland fishing, medicinal plants, fuel wood, fodder, litter and mulching leaves varies from 14 percent in Scenario - I to 8 percent in Scenario - III. These goods have an important bearing on the livelihood of people and especially the livelihood of local people. The value of wild fruits and oxygen provision comprises to about thirty five percent share in the total value in Scenario – III. These components are often neglected in valuation of forest and policy making but they play an important role in ecosystem sustenance, protection of biodiversity and thus, in human wellbeing in the long run. Table 8 presents the taluk-wise breakup in the total provisioning goods and services. This illustrates that Supa taluk contributes the high est amount of provisioning goods and services with Rs. 3,188 crores per year (21% of the district), while Bhatkal taluk contributes the least with the provisional services of Rs. 558 crores per year (4 % of the district).

S. No. Provisioning goods and services Ankola Bhatkal Haliyal Honnavar Karwar Kumta Mundgod Siddapur Sirsi Supa Yellapur Total
1 Timber 10.18 2. 64 267.47 104.34 77.23 174.38 271.00 62.52 311.31 95.28 80.45 1456.80
2 NTFP 473.83 135.84 98.93 324.02 345.36 180.37 17.43 333.55 278.31 1095.93 317.04 3600.61
3 Litter and Mulching leaves 48.92 13.29 57.13 41.19 33.80 27.85 52.39 62.41 102.35 139.88 110.25 689.44
4 Fodder 24.18 6. 70 9. 92 15.11 17.14 10.38 2. 96 18.00 24.27 52.09 23.80 204.55
5 Medicinal plants 2. 88 0. 92 1. 04 1. 96 2. 20 1. 38 0. 23 2. 13 3. 12 6. 65 2. 66 25.17
6 Fuelwood 24.99 34.17 45.05 38.59 32.35 35.57 25.81 34.17 55.45 15.51 24.60 366.26
7 Food 5. 65 1. 91 3. 98 4. 81 4. 42 3. 12 2. 57 4. 81 7. 26 12.08 8. 43 59.04
8 Inland fishing 0. 77 0. 35 2. 06 4. 02 1. 54 1. 62 0. 73 2. 35 1. 83 4. 34 2. 13 21.74
9 Hydrological services 172.74 140.66 341.64 279.89 118.27 185.32 127.89 218.26 319.62 223.46 184.85 2312.58
1 Timber 10.18 2. 64 267.47 104.34 77.23 174.38 271.00 62.52 311.31 95.28 80.45 1456.80
10 Wild fruits 228.20 71.96 71.62 157.08 174.01 104.36 13.51 164.75 213.22 531.33 191.87 1921.91
11 Oxygen 303.97 94.24 178.13 207.19 230.47 150.88 106.14 240.13 372.87 693.21 418.56 2995.81
12 Others 144.03 55.85 119.65 130.91 115.20 97.25 68.96 127.01 187.74 318.86 151.63 1517.09
Total 1440.35 558.51 1196.54 1309.11 1152.00 972.47 689.60 1270.08 1877.36 3188.63 1516.25 15170. 90
Table 8: Value of various provisioning goods and services across taluks (in Rs. crores)

Regulating Services

Regulation service quantification includes the estimated value of carbon sequestration in each taluk and other regulation services (Table 3 in methods section) multiplied by the forest area. The total value of regulating services in the district from forest ecosystems estimated at Rs. 45,657 crores per year. Table 9 shows the share of each taluks in the district’s regulating services. Regulating services such as disturbance regulation, natural hazard mitigation and flood prevention, water regulation and groundwater recharging, and carbon sequestration has the major share in the regulating services provided by the forest ecosystem.

S. No. Taluk Ankola Bhatkal Haliyal Honnavar Karwar Kumta Mundgod Siddapur Sirsi Supa Yellapur Total
1 Air quality regulation 47 14 31 31 35 23 21 38 59 104 72 475
2 Climate regulation 79 23 52 52 58 38 34 63 100 175 121 797
3 Disturbance regulation, natural hazard mitigation and flood prevention 1607 474 1068 1061 1186 783 701 1292 2030 3562 2454 16217
4 Water regulation and groundwater recharging 1927 568 1281 1273 1422 939 840 1550 2435 4273 2944 19454
5 Pollination 9 3 6 6 7 4 4 7 11 20 14 89
6 Waste treatment 31 9 20 20 23 15 13 25 39 68 47 311
7 Soil erosion control and soil retention 87 26 58 57 64 42 38 70 110 192 132 875
8 Soil formation 4 1 2 2 3 2 2 3 4 8 5 36
9 Biological regulation 8 2 5 5 6 4 4 7 10 18 12 82
10 Nutrient cycling, water cycling and nutrient retention 326 9 6 217 216 241 159 142 263 412 724 499 3294
11 Carbon sequestration 494 153 143 301 375 209 54 307 391 1171 417 4016
Total value of regulating services 4619 1368 2885 3025 3419 2219 1853 3625 5602 10316 6718 45647
Table 9: Value of various regulating services across taluks (in Rs. crores)

Cultural Services

The cultural services from forest can be aesthetic, recreational, spiritual, science and education. The district of Uttara Kannada is rich in places of recreational interest. There are immense number of waterfalls like Jog falls, Lalguli falls, Magod falls, Sathodi falls and Unchalli falls which adds to recreational and aesthetic values. The recreational sites also include the AnashiDandeli Tiger Reserve, Attiveri bird sanctuary and caves in Yana, Kavala, Uluvi, Sintheri, etc. The spiritual value of the Uttara Kannada district is also high due to the presence of many temples and pilgrimage centres like Gokarna, Murdeshwar, and Dhareshwar, Idagunji, Banavasi, etc. The cultural and heritage function is another important cultural service provided by forest. The presence of sacred groves is important for the cultural services as there are many cultural beliefs associated with the sacred groves in India. Some groves have valuable timber in them but are not harvested for timber due to sacred beliefs. The taluks of Siddapur and Sirsi in Uttara Kannada district have higher cultural values as the region is rich in sacred grooves. The presence of wild life sanctuaries and grooves in turn increases the educational value of the forest ecosystem. The unit value of different components of cultural services was as per Table 4, considering the conditions and type of forests in Uttara Kannada. The total cultural value of the district was estimated at Rs. 14,388 crores. Talukwise value of each component of cultural services and total value of cultural services is presented in Table 10.

S. No. Taluk Aesthetic services Cultural andartistic inspiration Recreational services Science and education Spiritual and historic information Total
1 Ankola 11 4 1196 354 277 1841
2 Bhatkal 3 1 349 104 81 539
3 Haliyal 7 2 243 235 34 522
4 Honnavar 7 2 599 234 131 973
5 Karwar 8 3 893 261 208 1373
6 Kumta 5 2 437 172 95 713
7 Mundgod 5 2 103 154 7 271
8 Siddapura 9 3 584 285 120 1000
9 Sirsi 14 4 656 447 117 1239
10 Supa 25 8 2885 785 679 4381
11 Yellapura 17 5 824 541 150 1536
District Total 112 36 8770 3573 1897 14388
Table 10: Talukwise value of cultural services (in Rs. crores)

Supporting Services

Table 11 lists taluk wise values of supporting services. The components of supporting services as per Table 5 were considered with the types and spatial extent of forest. The total value of supporting services obtained from forest ecosystem is estimated at Rs. 9,115 crores per year.

S. No. Taluk Habitat/ refugium Services Nursery services Biodiversity and genetic diversit Total
1 Ankola 539 69 295 903
2 Bhatkal 159 20 87 266
3 Haliyal 358 46 196 600
4 Honnavar 356 46 195 596
5 Karwar 398 51 218 666
6 Kumta 263 34 144 440
7 Mundgod 235 30 129 394
8 Siddapura 434 56 237 726
9 Sirsi 681 87 373 1141
10 Supa 1195 153 654 2002
11 Yellapura 824 105 451 1380
District Total 5441 697 2977 9115
Table 11: Talukwise value of supporting services (Rs. in crores)

Total Economic Value of Forest Ecosystem in Uttara Kannada District

Total economic value (TEV) is calculated by aggregating provisioning services, regulating services, cultural services and supporting services. Total economic value (TEV) for all three scenarios and are presented in Table 12. The TEV of forest ecosystem in Uttara Kannada district is Rs. 78,857 crores, Rs. 80,993 crores and Rs. 84,321 crores for Scenario -I, II and III respectively.

Scenario Provisioning services Regulating services Cultural services Supporting services Total economic value
Scenario - I 9,707 45, 647 14, 388 9,115 78, 857
Scenario - II         80, 993
Scenario - III 15, 171       84, 321
Table 12: Total economic value goods and services from forest ecosystem in Uttara Kannada district ( in Rs. crores)

Table 13 presents the share of different categories of services from forest ecosystem for scenario – III. Regulating services underpin the delivery of other service categories (Kumar et al. 2010), contributes to half of the share (54%) of the total economic value of forest ecosystem in the district. Provisioning services (18 %), cultural services (17%) and supporting service (11%)contributes to the other half of total economic value. Table 13 also shows that the total value of services per hectare of forest per year in the district. Value of provisioning services provided by the forest ecosystem is about Rs. 2,03,818 per hectare per year and the total value is about Rs. 11,32,832 per hectare per year which is implicit in the subsistence, income and local employment.

Services from forest ecosystem District value per year (in Rs. crores) Value of services per hectare per year (in Rs.) Percent share
Provisioning services 15, 171 2, 03,818 18
Regulating services 45, 647 6, 13,254 54
Cultural services 14, 388 1, 93,296 17
Supporting services 9,115 1, 22,464 11
Total Value 84, 321 11, 32,832 100
Table 13: Total value of goods and services from forest ecosystem in Uttara Kannada

Supa taluks with Rs. 19,887 crores per year is the largest contributor (with 24 percent share) to the TEV of forest ecosystem in the district (Table 14) and Bhatkal taluk with the contribution of Rs. 2,732 crores per year is the least contributor (with 3% share) to the TEV of forest ecosystem of the district.

S. No. Taluk TEV of forest ecosystem (in Rs. crores per year)
1 Ankola 8803
2 Bhatkal 2732
3 Haliyal 5204
4 Honnavar 5904
5 Karwar 6610
6 Kumta 4344
7 Mundgod 3207
8 Siddapur 6622
9 Sirsi 9859
10 Supa 19887
11 Yellapur 11150
District Total 84321
Table 14: Taluk wise total economic value goods and services from forest ecosystem

Total Economic Value of Forest Ecosystem and GDDP

Sector-wise district’s Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) is given in Table 15. GDDP of Uttara Kannada is about Rs. 5,978 crores and the contribution of forests’ goods is about Rs.180 crores (3% of GDDP), in contrast to the estimated valuation of provisioning services (ranges from 9707 to 15171 crores per year). This highlights the undervaluation of forest resources in the regional accounting system. TEV of forest ecosystem of Uttara Kannada district is about Rs. 84,321 crores.

Sector Sectoral contribution (in Rs. crores) Sectoral share (in percent)
Primary Sector (Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, Mining) 1060 18
Forestry and Logging Sector 180 3
GDDP of Uttara Kannada 5978 100
Source: Directorat e of Economics and Statistics, Government of Karnataka
Table 15: GDDP of Uttara Kannada with sectors

The forest products included in the national income account framework includes:
(a) Industrial wood (timber, match and pulpwood) and fuel wood and
(b) minor forest products(Haripriya 2001).
It includes only the recordedvalues by forest department and thus, all other benefits from forests are unaccounted in the national income. This necessitates relook at the current approach of computations of Gross Domestic District Product (GDDP), State Domestic Pro(SDP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Gross underestimation and non-accounting of natural resources and forest resources in particular is responsible for unsustainable utilization of natural resources. Under valuation of ecosystem goods and services is evident from GDDP of Rs. 5,978 crores in 2009-10 (at current prices), which accounts as the sectoral share of forests of Rs. 180 crores, contrary to the estimated valuation of provisioning services (ranges from 9707 to 15171 crores per year). TEV of forest ecosystem accounts to Rs. 84,321 crores per year.

 

 
Citation :Ramachandra T. V, Divya Soman, Ashwath D Naik, Subash Chandran M D, 2017. Appraisal of Forest Ecosystems Goods and Services: Challenges and Opportunities for Conservation, Journal of biodiversity, 8(1):61-78
* Corresponding Author :
Dr. T.V. Ramachandra
Energy & Wetlands Research Group, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore – 560 012, India.
Tel : +91-80-2293 3099/2293 3503 [extn - 107],      Fax : 91-80-23601428 / 23600085 / 23600683 [CES-TVR]
E-mail :tvr@iisc.ac.in , emram.ces@courses.iisc.ac.in, energy.ces@iisc.ac.in,     Web : http://wgbis.ces.iisc.ernet.in/energy, http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/grass
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