Contribution of Mangrove Ecosystem Services to Local Livelihoods in the Indian Sundarbans

Piyali Sarkar, Saon Banerjee (), Saroni Biswas, Sarathi Saha, Dolgobinda Pal, Manish Kumar Naskar, Sanjeev K. Srivastava, Dhananjay Barman, Gouranga Kar and Sharif A. Mukul ()
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Piyali Sarkar: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Saon Banerjee: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Saroni Biswas: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Sarathi Saha: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Dolgobinda Pal: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Manish Kumar Naskar: Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur 741252, West Bengal, India
Sanjeev K. Srivastava: School of Science, Technology and Engineering (SSTE), University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4556, Australia
Dhananjay Barman: ICAR—Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers, Barrackpore, Kolkata 700121, West Bengal, India
Gouranga Kar: ICAR—Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibers, Barrackpore, Kolkata 700121, West Bengal, India
Sharif A. Mukul: School of Science, Technology and Engineering (SSTE), University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4556, Australia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-16

Abstract: Mangrove forests, apart from their carbon sequestration and coastal protection benefits, provide a wide range of ecosystem services to people in tropical developing countries. Local people living in and around forests in the developing tropics also depend heavily on these mangrove ecosystem services for their livelihoods. This study examines the impact of mangrove ecosystem services on the livelihoods of people in Indian part of the Sundarbans—the largest contagious mangrove forest on earth. To achieve this objective, a household survey was undertaken to gather data on the diverse range of provisioning and regulating ES local people derived from mangrove forests living near the Indian Sundarbans. Surveys were carried out in nine villages across the Kultali, Basanti, and Gosaba blocks, involving over one hundred respondents. Our study reveals the active participation of locals in gathering various ecosystem services, with fishing and crab collection being the most common in the area. Due to numerous challenges in the agricultural sector, such as soil salinity and frequent extreme weather events, people increasingly depend on non-farming incomes, particularly fishing. A questionnaire was used to assess the dependence of local people on different ecosystem services. Some villages, such as Amlamethi, Satyanarayanpur, Mathurakhand, Vivekananda Palli, and Second Scheme, demonstrated a higher reliance on forest ecosystem services compared to other villages. The study indicates that the contribution of ecosystem services sometimes surpasses traditional activities like farming and daily contractual work. River transportation emerged as the most crucial service, followed by freshwater, food, and fiber. While certain resources like fuel, natural medicine, and genetic resources may not be prioritized, they still hold significance within the community, contrasting with ornamental resources, which are considered the least important. Our findings underscore the importance of preserving natural services in the Sundarbans forest, highlighting the need to conserve the mangrove ecosystem services to ensure the long-term well-being of local communities.

Keywords: mangrove ecosystem; Sundarbans; ecosystem services; ES ranking; livelihood dependency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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