Name of the Project: Assessing ecosystem services of traditional farming systems practiced by the tribal communities of North East Hill Region

1. Rationality:

An ecosystem service is the combination of numerous ecological processes, natural biological system characteristics, and habitat, among other functional entities. They also covers the products and services that ecosystems offer that directly or indirectly benefit human populations. Numerous services that vary in both amount and quality are offered by various ecosystems (MEA 2005). Services provided by ecosystems support human welfare and the continuation of life on Earth. The contemporary global concerns include the need for natural resource conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and ecosystem service deterioration. Despite the growing importance of the idea of ecosystem services, neither government policy nor the economic markets fully comprehend the benefits that these ecosystems deliver (MEA, 2005). The valuation of ecosystem service has drawn a lot of interest lately. To address the issues, there is a growing global push to integrate data on ecosystem services into both public and private decision-making processes. Understanding the significance of ecosystem services for enhancing and maintaining human wellbeing as well as for sustainable management of the ecosystem requires evaluating and being aware of the advantages of ecosystem services .India, particularly our North eastern Region is rich in biodiversity , forest cover and different farming ecosystems providing various ecosystem services which are not adequately accounted for in economic policy and are insufficiently invested in their protection and management. The assessment of ecosystem services will serve as a tool to assist the decision makers for the most suitable approach to quantify these services and benefit the citizens in the form of the payment of ecosystem services/Green Credit through investment in protection and management of ecosystem.

2. Objective:

• Assessment of ecosystem services (ES) and quantification
• Monetary valuation of different categories of services in tribal farming system

3. Achievement:

• Conducted National Workshop on Ecosystem Services in Agricultural Landscape of Himalayan region of India.
• Questionnaires have been prepared for all four services.
• Vetted the questionnaire with different experts and modified accordingly.
• For regulatory services, 30 water and soil samples were collected in the Apatani farming system for analysis.
• Carbon sequestration, water quality, Nutrient recycling, soil erosion, soil formation—Progress
• Review and modification of data collection and finalization- 1st week of Aug.2024
• Paper on ecosystem services has been written
• Interview schedule for Apatani farming system has been almost completed

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