Mangroves contribute to Mumbai in a large number of ways. They protect the city of the storms storms, feed the fish reproduction places, absorb air pollution and help filter coastal waters. But these services rarely find a place in balances or cost -cost analysis, partly because they are not easy to quantify.
Now, a new study tries to do that precisely. According to an analysis of Iit Bombay researchers, the benefits provided by mangroves are worth at least 1.7 billion rupees per year until Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Only for Greater Mumbai, the mangroves provide RS 1,155 million services of services annually, according to the study.
The findings highlight the economic value of these ecological systems, says researcher Naman Gupta. “It allows us to consider mangroves as not only a development barrier, but as assets.”
The MMR is home to about 22,300 hectares of mangroves, while Mumbai houses about 6,522 hectares, according to some estimates.
Gupta interviewed 150 homes in rural environments (Vasai), Semiurbanos (Uran) and Urban (Navi Mumbai), and asked if they would be willing to pay to keep them. About 80% of rural and urban respondents said they would be willing to pay to conserve mangroves. That provision was lower among semi -urban residents in Uran (58%). However, the real amount that these residents of Uran were willing to pay was the highest of the three sites: an average RS 214 per month compared to RS 154 between rural residents and RS 146 among urban respondents. The will to pay was used to reach an economic assessment.
Semi -urban residents could have been willing to pay more, researchers suggest, due to an increase in the richness of compensation received for land acquisition for infrastructure projects. Many also saw how mangroves protected their cyclones lands.
According to researchers who interviewed homes in rural, semi -urban and urban environments in MMR and made discussions with officials and community leaders, people understood the importance of mangrove conservation And when they educated their benefits, they were willing to pay to conserve them.
More than half of the 150 homes with which the researchers spoke were aware of the protective role of mangroves against climate change and other benefits. This awareness was higher in rural areas where 83% of the interviewees showed knowledge of climate change and 70% knew the protective role of mangroves. About 80% of rural and urban respondents said they would be willing to pay some money every month to preserve mangroves. That provision was lower among semi -urban residents in Uran (58%). However, the real amount that these semi -urban residents were willing to pay was the highest of the three sites, an average RS 214 per month.
A reason why Semi -urban residents could have been willing to pay more, suggests researcher Naman Gupta, is an increase in wealth in recent years due in part to the compensation received for the acquisition of land for infrastructure projects. They had the greatest average income between the groups. In addition, many residents in Uran saw how mangroves protected their lands from the Nisarga and Tauktae cyclones.
Rural residents were willing to pay the second highest amount per month (RS152, despite averaging the lowest income, according to the survey, perhaps reflecting the greatest impact of climate change in rural media. “Rural communities that work in fishing and agriculture can make the connection between climate changes and their own lives,” says Gupta. On the contrary, the urban residents were willing Quantity, according to the survey.
However, urban residents were willing to be more time for conservation, an average of ten hours a month compared to the five hours offered by rural respondents and less than an hour a month by semi -urban residents.
These different responses show that there cannot be a unique strategy in mangrove conservation, says Gupta. She expects her evaluation to provide a reference point for those in charge of formulating policies or stimulating them to perform a detailed evaluation.