Economic Values of Watershed Ecosystem Services on Soil Water Storage Potential of Reforestation and Agricultural Areas, Nam Kian Sub-watershed, Nan Province
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Abstract
The objective of this research was to study the economic values of watershed ecosystem services related to soil water storage potential in reforestation and agricultural areas (maize area). The results revealed that soil water storage in reforestation and agricultural areas was 190.44 and 128.66 cubic meters per Rai (cu.m./Rai) during the dry season, and 262.34 and 249.93 cu.m./Rai during the rainy season, respectively. The findings indicated that reforested areas have a high potential forn soil water storage compared to agricultural lands. When evaluating the economic value of soil water storage, the values for reforestation and agricultural areas were 1,224.53 and 827.28 Thai Baht (THB) per Rai during the dry season, and 1,686.85 and 1,607.05 THB per Rai during the rainy season, respectively. The results demonstrated that reforestation areas provide higher economic value in both the dry and the rainy seasons. Therefore, converting agricultural land to reforested areas can increase soil water storage capacity, leading to improvements in both soil water storage and economic value. Additionally, during the dry season, soil water storage was estimated at 518,693.81 cu.m., providing an economic value of 3,288,518.76 THB, while during the rainy season, the storage amounted to 714,524.97 cu.m., with an economic value of 4,530,088.31 THB. Overall, the economic values of watershed services highlighted the benefits gained from hydrological services due to the forested headwaters restoration activities.
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References
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