Lasse Twiggs Degn

Payments for Ecosystem Services for Managing Spring Water Resources: Case Study from Uttarakhand, India Lasse Twiggs Degn

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is an economic conservation tool which has recently gained much attention. It is believed to show a lot of promise in managing natural resources by incentivizing stakeholders to mutually agree on behavioral change which is more sustainable. The environmental impacts of these behavioural changes are quantified and the changes in behaviour rewarded. The state of Uttarakhand, India, forms a part of the Southern Himalayan slope bordering Nepal on the East and China (Tibet) on the North. The state is adversely impacted by changing climate patterns, fluctuations in rainfall and an overall warming trend in the region. At times, natural springs are the only source of drinking water for villages. This book addresses the problem of these springs drying up and it analyses whether payments for ecosystem services can prove to be a viable solution to not only revive the springs but also to manage them sustainably in the future.