Abstract
Forest ecosystems provide many essential and life-sustaining services. In South Asia, the contribution of forests in supporting dependent rural populations is even more prominent. However, their contribution to the economy is severely underestimated. This is largely due to the fact that comprehensive information on forest ecosystems and its linkage to human well-being is often unavailable which restricts decision-makers in adequately recognizing their significance and consequently their actions for management of these ecosystems. This chapter seeks to address this issue by highlighting the important role of economic valuation on designing appropriate policies for balancing conservation and development in South Asia. Emphasizing the need to develop appropriate incentive-based mechanisms for promoting conservation, the chapter demonstrates how investing in forest capital can have a multiplier effect in the economy. The chapter also focus on mountain areas, a large part of them covered with forests, and their role in provision of water to downstream regions which are predominantly involved in agriculture.
Keywords
- Ecosystem Service
- Biodiversity Conservation
- Mangrove Forest
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
- National Happiness
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Verma, M., Singh, R., Negandhi, D. (2017). Forest Ecosystem: Functions, Value and Management. In: Sandhu, H. (eds) Ecosystem Functions and Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53967-6_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-53967-6_6
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