Institut für Natur-und Ressourcenschutz Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel An Assessment of Ecosystem Services of the Everest Region, Nepal Dissertation Zur Erlangung des Doktorgrades der Agrar- und Ernährungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel Vorgelegt von M.Sc. Bikram Tamang aus Dharan, Nepal Kiel, 2011 Dekan: Prof. Dr. Karin Schwarz 1. Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Felix Müller 2. Berichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Hans- Rudolf Bork Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 12. Mai 2011 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ I List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................... II List of Figures .............................................................................................................. III List of Tables ............................................................................................................... VI Abstract ...................................................................................................................... VII 1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 Concept of ecosystem services ......................................................... 1 1.1.1 Ecosystem service classifications ...................................................................... 3 1.1.2 Evaluation of ecosystem services ....................................................................... 6 1.1.3 Mapping of ecosystem services .......................................................................... 7 1.2 The Himalayas .................................................................................. 8 1.3 Structure of the thesis ..................................................................... 12 2 Study region ............................................................................................ 14 2.1 Nepal ............................................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Himalayas of Nepal.......................................................................................... 14 2.1.2 People of Nepal ................................................................................................ 15 2.1.3 Protected areas of Nepal ................................................................................. 15 2.2 Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park and Buffer Zone ................... 15 2.2.1 Physical aspects ............................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Ecological zones .............................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 Socio-cultural aspects ...................................................................................... 23 2.3 History of Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park and Buffer Zone . 34 2.3.1 Major role of Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone ............................. 35 2.4 Tourism ........................................................................................... 38 2.5 Tourism and socio-cultural change in the Everest region .............. 40 2.5.1 Culture and religion ......................................................................................... 40 2.5.2 Local income structure .................................................................................... 42 2.5.3 Education ......................................................................................................... 44 2.5.4 Food and clothes .............................................................................................. 46 2.5.5 Tourism and settlement characteristics ........................................................... 47 2.5.6 Tourism and animal husbandry ....................................................................... 51 2.5.7 Tourism and agriculture .................................................................................. 54 2.6 Tourism and forestry ...................................................................... 55 2.6.1 Tourism and fuelwood...................................................................................... 57 2.7 Soil erosion, landslide and trail degradation .................................. 62 2.8 Climate change ............................................................................... 65 2.9 Land cover of Sagarmatha National Park and Buffer Zone ........... 69 3 Materials and methods ..................................................................... 71 3.1 Method of analyzing land use change ............................................ 71 3.2 Identification of indicators.............................................................. 72 3.3 Assessment matrix: land cover vs. ecosystem services ................. 76 3.4 Quantification of ecosystem services ............................................. 77 3.4.1 Questionnaire survey ....................................................................................... 77 3.4.2 Personal interviews .......................................................................................... 84 3.5 Provisioning services ...................................................................... 86 3.5.1 Fuelwood.......................................................................................................... 86 3.5.2 Potatoes............................................................................................................ 87 3.5.3 Livestock products (butter and milk) ............................................................... 87 3.5.4 Transportation via livestock ............................................................................ 87 3.6 Regulating services......................................................................... 87 3.6.1 Soil erosion ...................................................................................................... 87 3.6.2 Carbon production ........................................................................................... 89 3.7 Cultural services ............................................................................. 90 3.7.1 Religious value ................................................................................................. 90 3.7.2 Aesthetic value ................................................................................................. 90 3.8 Supply, demand and balance map of ecosystem services .............. 91 4 Results ......................................................................................................... 92 4.1 Changes in land use ........................................................................ 92 4.2 Changes in the inhabited settlements..............................................97 4.2.1 Growth of number of households and lodges .................................................. 97 4.2.2 Increases of the household members ............................................................... 99 4.2.3 Increases of the household yearly income ..................................................... 100 4.2.4 Changes in the household’s time spent on religious purposes ...................... 100 4.2.5 Changes in fuelwood consumption patterns .................................................. 103 4.2.6 Changes in the livestock numbers and compositions ..................................... 104 4.3 Changes in tourism ........................................................................ 107 4.3.1 Increases in the costs of Everest trips ............................................................ 107 4.3.2 Changes in the tourist expenditure ................................................................ 108 4.4 Ecosystem service supply and demand matrices .......................... 110 4.4.1 Landscape capacities providing ecosystem services ..................................... 110 4.4.2 Ecosystem service demand assessment .......................................................... 112 4.5 Spatial and temporal changes in provisioning services ................ 113 4.5.1 Changes in the quantities of fuelwood demand and supply ........................... 113 4.5.2 Changes in potato demand and supply .......................................................... 117 4.5.3 Changes in milk demand and supply ............................................................. 123 4.5.4 Changes in butter demand and supply ........................................................... 129 4.5.5 Changes in the supply of transportation ........................................................ 135 4.6 Spatial and temporal changes in the regulating services............... 137 4.6.1 Changes in the demand of soil erosion regulation ........................................ 137 4.6.2 Changes in carbon production and sequestration ......................................... 139 4.7 Spatial and temporal changes in the cultural services ................... 143 4.7.1 Changes in the supply and demand of religious values ................................. 143 4.7.2 Changes of the aesthetic value ....................................................................... 148 4.8 Integration of the results concerning ecosystem services ............. 150 5 Discussion................................................................................................ 155 5.1 Causes of land cover changes and their consequences ................. 156 5.1.1 Glaciers/snows land