Quantifying ecosystem services change in northern Vietnam

Background/Question/Methods

Ecosystem services are important for providing various benefits to human beings in both direct and indirect ways. In developing country, ecosystem is threaten by inefficient land-use, economic land cover change, thus ecosystem service assessment is crucial for deciding important area. Nevertheless the assessment is rare.

In this research, ecosystem service change is assessed in mountainous Northern Vietnam. Many minor ethnic people are living in the highland and they are dependent on the agricultural land converted from forest(slash-and-burn), consequently the soil and nutrient loss is serious in this region. On the other hand, forest rehabilitation has been done by governmental projects at bare land which is abandoned after the cultivation. Considering the imbalance, it is necessary to assess and figure out the ecosystem service values.

A key question is, where and how much ecosystem services are provided regionally over time. For a method, first, GLC 2000, GlobCover 2005, 2009 map and other site-specific research values are collected. Then InVEST(Integrated valuation of ecosystem services and trades-off) model is utilized to analyze 3 important ecosystem services(carbon storage, habitat potential and soil loss(sediment) retention) in this region.

 Results/Conclusions

Generally three main ecosystem services are improved for forest rehabilitation. The result showed that carbon storage continuously increased for about 25% in between 2005-2009. Potential habitat value, which represents biodiversity service, also increased due to forest expansion and linkage between habitats. Sediment retention service improved with forest rehabilitation by increasing the possibility of holding sediments. However contrary to general improvement, some spots are appeared to be degraded in terms of ecosystem services. After identifying the cause of ecosystem degradation, the management implements could be suggested.

This research is one of the first integrated ecosystem service assessments conducted in Southeast Asia using InVEST model. It would be useful for developing countries allowing them to ensure efficient and effective management of land planning considering ecosystem services. Furthermore, based on the ecosystem service values, it is possible to evaluate monetary value to compensate the ecosystem degradation by PES.