Research Article A Total Economic Valuation of Wetland Ecosystem Services: An Evidence from Jagadishpur Ramsar Site, Nepal Sony Baral, 1 Bijendra Basnyat, 2 Rajendra Khanal, 1 and Kalyan Gauli 3 1 International Union for Conservation of Nature, Kathmandu, Nepal 2 Institute of Forestry, Pokhara, Nepal 3 Multi Stakeholder Forestry Programme, Lalitpur, Nepal Correspondence should be addressed to Sony Baral; sonybaral@gmail.com Received 18 February 2016; Revised 1 August 2016; Accepted 2 August 2016 Academic Editor: Sunil Nautiyal Copyright © 2016 Sony Baral et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Wetlands are the most productive ecosystem and provide wide arrays of wetland ecosystems (goods and services) to the local communities in particular and global communities in general. However, management of the wetland ofen does not remain priority and recognized as the unproductive waste land mainly due to poor realization of the economic value of the wetlands. Taking this into account, the study estimated the total economic value of the Jagadishpur Reservoir taking into account direct, indirect, and nonuse value. Te study prioritized six major values of the reservoir which include wetland goods consumption, tourism, irrigation, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and conservation for future use (existence and option value). Te study used market and nonmarket based valuation techniques to estimate total economic value of the reservoir. Household survey, focus group discussions, and interaction with the tourism entrepreneurs and district stakeholders were carried out to collect information. Te study estimated the total annual economic value of the reservoir as NRs 94.5 million, where option/existence value remains main contributor followed by direct use value such as wetland goods and tourism and indirect use value, for example, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and irrigation. Te study reveals that the local communities gave high importance to the future use value and are willing to make investment for conservation and restoration of reservoir given its conservation signifcance. 1. Introduction Wetlands are amongst the most diverse and productive ecosystems of the world and are of immense socioeconomic importance [1]. Wetlands provide wide arrays of goods and services to the local communities and also the people living outside the periphery [2]. Wetlands provide numerous goods and services to society, supporting millions of people around the world. Indeed, the goods and services help life support system, conserve biological diversity, and act as safety net and an environmental insurance against the impacts of climate change and ecosystem degradation [3]. Ramachandra et al. found that anthropogenic activities impact physical, biological, and chemical processes of wetlands, which impair the ecosystem functioning causing decline and degradation of ecosystem services and also economic value of wetlands. Te global values of direct goods from wetland and associated ecosystems services have been estimated at US$14 trillion annually [4]. Tey provide food, fodder, fuel, and water for domestic, irrigation, and industrial purposes. Tey are critical for contributing to poverty reduction. Furthermore, it also serves as the kidney of the landscape because of functions they perform in the hydrological and chemical cycles [5]. Despite their signifcant role in maintaining the healthy ecosystem and contribution to the local livelihoods of the people, wetlands are under threat due to degradation of catchments and water diversion leading to changes in water regimes. Many parts of the world have experienced loss or degradation of wetlands mainly due to agricultural use, urbanization, excessive exploitation by local populations, and poor planned developmental activities [6]. Globally, several studies on economic valuation of wetlands have been carried out; however very few studies which focus on the total economic contribution of wetlands have been carried Hindawi Publishing Corporation e Scientific World Journal Volume 2016, Article ID 2605609, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/2605609