Ecosystem Services 56 (2022) 101453 Available online 29 June 2022 2212-0416/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Full Length Article Analysis of provisioning ecosystem services and perceptions of climate change for indigenous communities in the Western Himalayan Gurez Valley, Pakistan Uzma Saeed a, b , Muhammad Arshad c , Shakeel Hayat d , Toni Lyn Morelli e , Muhammad Ali Nawaz f, * a Department of Zoology, Quaid I Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan b Snow Leopard Trust, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Suite 325, Seattle, WA 98103, USA c Himalayan Wildlife Foundation, F-8/1, Islamabad, Pakistan d Institute of Management Sciences, 1-A, Sector E-5, Phase VII, Hayatabad, Peshawar, Pakistan e U.S. Geological Survey, Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, Amherst, MA, USA f Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Economic valuation Provisioning ecosystem services Climate change Focus group discussion Gurez Valley Western Himalayas ABSTRACT Climate change is a signifcant threat to people living in mountainous regions. It is essential to understand how montane communities currently depend especially on the provisioning ecosystem services (ES) and the ways in which climate change will impact these services, so that people can develop relevant adaptation strategies. The ES in the Gurez Valley, in the Western Himalayas of Pakistan, provide a unique opportunity to explore these questions. This understudied area is increasingly exposed not only to climate change but also to the over- exploitation of resources. Hence, this study aimed to (a) identify and value provisioning ES in the region; (b) delineate indigenous communities’ reliance on ES based on valuation; and (c) measure the perceptions of indigenous communities of the impact of climate change on the ES in Gurez Valley. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were used to classify the provisioning ES by using the ‘Common International Classifcation on Ecosystem Services’ (CICES) table and applying the ‘Total Economic Valuation (TEV)’ Frame- work. Results indicate that the indigenous communities are highly dependent on ES, worth 6730 ± 520 USD/ Household (HH)/yr, and perceive climate change as a looming threat to water, crops, and rearing livestock ESS in the Gurez Valley. The total economic value of the provisioning ES is 3.1 times higher than a household’s average income. Medicinal plant collection is a signifcant source of revenue in the Valley for some households, i.e., worth 766 ± 134.8 USD/HH/yr. The benefts of the sustainable use of ES and of climate change adaptation and mitigation, are culturally, economically, and ecologically substantial for the Western Himalayans. 1. Introduction Mountains cover 22% of the global land surface but harbour more than 85% of the world’s amphibian, bird, and mammal species (Rahbek et al., 2019). They are among the most endangered ecosystems on earth, being exposed and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change (FAO, 2015a). Research has shown higher rates of warming in the world’s mountains (Wester et al., 2019). This climate exposure is affecting not only biodiversity, including endemic species, but also human pop- ulations. Of the approximately 13% of the global population that lives in montane ecosystems, about 90% live in the Global South, of which half live in the Asia-Pacifc and one-third in China (Huddleston et al., 2003; Macchi, 2010; FAO, 2015b). The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region is a hub of biodiversity, providing habitat for more than 35,000 species of plants, more than 200 species of animals, including the endangered snow leopard, and water to about 1.9 billion people (Xu et al., 2019). The changing climate adds an extra strain on mountain people there, many of whom are poor and are now exposed to additional survival threats and potential inequities (Gentle and Maraseni, 2012). Ecosystem services (ES) are the benefts humans obtain from ecosystems (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005) and include provisioning (e.g., goods that can be consumed such * Corresponding author. E-mail address: anawaz@qu.edu.qa (M. Ali Nawaz). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Ecosystem Services journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ecoser https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2022.101453 Received 25 June 2021; Received in revised form 5 June 2022; Accepted 12 June 2022