BENGALURU: Change in land use and reduction in green cover are taking a drastic toll on the Western Ghats, especially the state of Goa, where development projects for tourism, infrastructure and connectivity have been put on the fast track. This has significantly impacted the functioning of forest ecosystems, contributing to climate change. A recent study by researchers from the Centre for Ecology, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), revealed that the total forest cover declined drastically post the 1990s, due to market forces associated with globalisation. There has also been a decline in evergreen forest cover by 10.98 per cent.
The carbon sequestration potential of forests in Goa that the study assessed, showed the storage of 56,131.16 Giga grams (Gga) of carbon, which accounts for Rs 373.47 billion ($4.49 billion). Similarly, carbon stored in forest ecosystems of the Western Ghats is valued at Rs 100 billion.
The total ecosystem supply value (TESV) for forest ecosystems was computed by aggregating the provisioning, regulating and cultural services which account for Rs 481.76 billion per year, said the report titled ‘Insights into Linkages of Forest Structure Dynamics with Ecosystem Services’, released on Monday. TESV is the summation of provisioning, regulating, and cultural services, and depends on the spatial extent and condition of the ecosystem of a particular area.
Prof TV Ramachandra, co-author of the research paper, said forest ecosystems in Goa provide diverse services which are vital for human well-being and prosperity.
With economic growth accelerating in Goa, there is tremendous pressure to divert natural systems to other uses. Many villages of Goa have witnessed a significant decline in agricultural productivity due to environmental degradation, and lower fertility around wetland regions. Hence, there is an urgent need to undertake natural capital accounting and valuation of ecosystem services, especially intangible benefits (such as regulating services, etc.), which the ecosystem provides.
The value of all ecosystem services, including degradation costs, needs to be understood to develop appropriate policies toward ecosystem conservation and sustainable management. Thus, understanding drivers of land-use change would aid in prioritising critical ecosystems for conservation, Ramachandra said.
The report noted that the TESV of forest ecosystem services of Goa is as important as that of Uttara Kannada, with Rs 456.47 billion per year. Nationally, too, there has been a decline in TESV from Rs 2,841 billion in 2005 to Rs 1,835 billion in 2019 -- a 35% decline in forest ecosystem. The researchers compared Goa’s total economic value to others and noted that Himachal Pradesh’s TESV is Rs 1,066 billion per year, and that of Arunachal Pradesh’s tropical forests is Rs 1,518 billion per year.