The Economic Valuation of Selected Ecosystem Services

Lubigi wetland is currently being converted to other developments deemed more profitable with no regard to the wetland’s contribution to the community. The objectives of this research therefore, focused on identification and mapping of ecosystem services within the wetland, quantifying the financial value of selected services and assessing the community dependency on the wetland. The valuation methods used include; the market price method which was used to quantify crop production and papyrus harvesting, while the avoided cost and replacement cost methods were used to quantify commercial water provision and waste water treatment values respectively. The estimated value added by the wetland to cultivation was estimated at US$954/ha/yr while papyrus harvesting and commercial water provision were valued at US$784/ha/yr and US$355 /ha/yr respectively. Waste water treatment service was roughly estimated at US$ 8,756,155/yr. The dependency levels imply that majority of the population falls within the heavily dependent category making poor communities most vulnerable to resource depletion.