Abstract

This paper makes an attempt to identify and analyse the factors that influence the household use of wetlands in West Bengal, India. Three wetlands were selected from three physiographically distinct regions of West Bengal, which are used by local people for multiple purposes. Logit and Tobit models are used for the identification of the factors explaining household dependency on wetland. The results indicate that there is spatial difference in the mode and extent of use of wetland resources across the three wetlands. Households belonging to poor, landless, lower social caste, and low education level are more likely to use wetland resources compared to their counterparts. Households having larger family size are likely to extract bigger amounts of wetland products. However, upper caste households have more access to the wetlands for irrigation. The results indicate that wetland plays a vital role for the livelihood of marginalized sections of the community. Therefore, it is needed to device appropriate policy for equitable distribution of the benefits of the wetlands among different sections of the society.

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