Valuation of Ecosystem Services Amidst Land Use Land Cover Change Dynamics in Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand

Azizur Rahman Siddiqui, Pragati Verma 

The Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, situated in Uttarakhand, India, is a critical hub of ecological diversity and ecosystem services. However, rapid land use and land cover (LULC) transitions in the region have raised concerns regarding the sustainability of these services. This study presents a comprehensive assessment and quantification of ecosystem services in response to LULC changes over a 23-year period (2001–2024). Landsat images were classified into seven classes—forests, rangelands, cropland, waterbody, settlements, bare land, and snow cover—using a Random Forest classifier in Google Earth Engine. The classified LULC maps were used to estimate the ecosystem service value (ESV) using the Benefit Transfer Method (BTM). The results indicate that forested areas contribute the most to the total ESV, although they show a declining trend over time. Total ESV decreased from approximately USD 134.09 million in 2001 to USD 113.68 million in 2024. These findings underscore the urgent need for proactive conservation and sustainable land management strategies, particularly in ecologically sensitive regions like the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.