Spatial dynamics in people-wetland association: an assessment of rural dependency on ecosystem services extended by Purbasthali Wetland, West Bengal

Endowed with diverse ecological resources, the flood plain wetlands of the lower Gangetic delta not only serve the natural environment but also benefit the nearby human groups. Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES) approach has been employed to assess the ecosystem services extended by Purbasthali Oxbow Lake. A total 37 ecosystem services, grouped into 4 major categories (10 provisioning, 9 regulating, 7 cultural and 11 supporting) have been identified that have directly or indirectly influenced the lifestyle of the native villagers. With the help of RAWES questionnaire and calculation spreadsheet numeric transformation of ecosystem services has been conducted by Ecosystem Service Index. The results unveil existence of spatial dynamics in ecosystem services and the wetland utilization pattern by the rural folks of five adjacent villages, namely Purbasthali, Chupi, Kashthashali, Ramchandrapur and Indrakpur. Subsequently, Kruskal-Wallis test reveals significant village-level variation in utilization pattern of the services (The p value is .0005. The result is significant at p < .05). Priority of acceptance to diverse services generates the conflicts of interest to the wetland user groups bracketed in wetland-people association. A dual and contrasting societal perception have been emerged from a geographically resembling region due to the locational specialty and varying degrees of economic dependency of the villagers. The overall benefits of the wetland services in the life of the residents of Purbasthali, Chupi and Ramchandrapur have been reduced with the increasing distances from the wetlands, while Kasthashali and Indrakpur exhibit a contrasting situation with dissimilar perspectives.