Potentials of forest ecosystem services for primate conservation and human wellbeing

Abstract

Ecosystems supply numerous valuable services which are crucial for maintaining human wellbeing. However, the value of these Ecosystem Services (ESS) are yet to be fully captured or quantified and how they contribute to ecosystem conservation and the wellbeing of people are not properly understood. This thesis aims to add to this knowledge through the use of four case studies from two forests in Asia. Using these two important forests, this research project aimed to answer four key research questions: 1. What is the estimated value of the ESS obtained from the forest ecosystem? 2. What are the potentials of recreational service based management in sustainable conservation? 3. What are the interactions between livelihood capitals and access of local communities to the forest ecosystem services and how does this impact their daily lives and wellbeing? 4. What are the potentials of ecosystem services for improving human wellbeing of directly dependent communities? The case studies were conducted at the Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park (VSSPNP) in Cambodia, and the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SMF) in Bangladesh. In order to estimate the value of VSSPNP, I used academically well-established formulas and methods for each service. Primary data were collected by conducting interview and secondary data were obtained from published literature and official records of the respective authorities. I estimated the total annual contribution of VSSPNP to be US$129.84million contributed by air purification, water storage, soil-erosion reduction, soil-fertility improvement, carbon sequestration, provisioning services and recreation. The area also generated valuable non-monetary values including academic and non-academic knowledge, created a diverse network worldwide, and shaped the culture of local indigenous people. Given the high value of the area, a properly designed ecosystem-based ecotourism program (CBET) was developed. This program was assessed in terms of its impact on human wellbeing by surveying the demography of tourists and their conservation attitudes towards the CBET program. In total 36 tourists were interviewed twice (before and after visiting the site). In addition, data were collected from the official records of the management authority (Conservation International or CI), face to face interviews with 35 indigenous families and focus group discussions with local people including both CBET members and non-members. I found that the CBET program increased the recreational value of VSSPNP and there was a significant improvement in the level of satisfaction of the tourists after visiting the site. CBET also significantly increased the intention for collective action and cooperation for conservation of the forest amongst people. Similarly, in the Shyamnagar upazila vicinity of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest (SMF), I conducted interviews with the heads of 104 households to determine the level of access to provisioning services (a type of ESS) to better understand the trade-offs made by the households when selecting which services to use. I found that the interactions between livelihood capitals (human, physical, financial, natural and social) are key contributors to the level of access a person has to a given service and that PS contributed significantly in availability and cleanliness of non-drinking water as well as significantly improving the capacity of people to maintain social freedom. I then divided these 104 households into high access (income≥ US$893/yr) and lower access (<US$893/yr) families based on the income they received from provisioning service collection and collected data on four general wellbeing criteria. The effect of each criterion on wellbeing was measured and showed that only physical health and economic security significantly improved with the increase in PS collection as food sufficiency was significantly decreased with the increase in the amount of PS collection. A higher amount of PS extraction also tends to significantly weaken the collectors physically while mental health decreased. These case studies suggest a participatory approach of forest conservation has the potentials to make a difference for wildlife and human populations and these relationships need to be better understood to fully understand how important forests are for local people. This will help make better conservation action plans that ensure forests are maintained and that people’s expectations of how they can use the forest are secured.