Abstract
Abstract Sacred groves have significance in socio-culture and biodiversity conservation. This study evaluated local people's perceptions regarding conservation of sacred groves for water services, through willingness-to-pay (WTP), willingness-to-accept (WTA) and willingness-to-labour-work (DLP). Data were collected through a pre-tested questionnaire from 107 randomly selected households in 18 villages of Uttarakhand. The villages were categorised into 3 classes (core, nearby, faraway) based on proximity to the forests. The contingent-valuation method was used to evaluate WTP [Rs 3,802 (≈$57)] and WTA [Rs 38,224 (≈$571)] for water as an ecosystem service and statistical analyses were performed to evaluate whether factors such as gender, age, household income and location explained differences in the parameters. It was found that gender had a significant impact on WTP, with women having higher WTP, and that location had significant impact on WTA. The result shows that WTA increased with increasing distance from the sacred groves (Rs 43,077 ± 21,139 in faraway villages and Rs 35,323 ± 10,483 in core villages). The results indicated that consideration of gender inequality and education status in villages should be included in planning and decision making about participatory forest management of sacred groves. These findings facilitate forest resource management in mountains and provide guidance for programmes and policies dealing with irrigation, drinking water and community development.
Highlights
There is increasing awareness in society that habitat degradation, overexploitation, climate change and pollution are major threats to biodiversity and ecosystems across the globe (Ayvaz & Elci 2012; Pereira et al 2012; Mohammadi et al 2020)
Ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss undermine the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide goods and services, which are of fundamental importance for the well-being of present and future generations of people world-wide
It was found that people residing in faraway villages had a higher level of education than people living in villages closer to the sacred grove
Summary
There is increasing awareness in society that habitat degradation, overexploitation, climate change and pollution are major threats to biodiversity and ecosystems across the globe (Ayvaz & Elci 2012; Pereira et al 2012; Mohammadi et al 2020). Monetary valuations of ecosystem services can serve as a powerful information tool to support more balanced decision making regarding the trade-offs involved in land use options and resource use (de Groot et al 2012; Costanza et al 2014). The contingent valuation method asks people what they would be willing to pay for an ecosystem good and service (Mitchell & Carson 1989). This kind of approach has been widely used in compensation schemes (Lindhjem & Mitani 2012)
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