Stakeholders assessment of status and trends of ecosystem services in the Mekong Delta for improved management of multifunctional wetlands

Biodiversity status of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…However, it has led to a decrease in many other interconnected ecosystem services (ES) that greatly affect for peoples' livelihoods and well-being. Intensification of agriculture production has become a major driver of change in the region and impacted 15 of the 24 most important ES identified by stakeholders (Berg et al 2023). Some innovations, such as installing tap water or replacing wild plants and animals with farmed crops and livestock, have sometimes decreased the pressure on these 24 ES.…”

“…Some argue that this has allowed ES to continually and increasingly deteriorate to such an extent that it may be very difficult in future to solve the problems that have arisen. This loss in ES has limited the options for alternative farming strategies and has sometimes forced farmers to rely on manufactured substitutes at an increased cost (Berg et al 2023).…”

“…Cultural ES must be considered and strengthened to avoid further distancing farming from nature in the knowledge that natural capital cannot be replaced by human-made capital without there being any costs or losses. For such a transformational change of the VMD's food production systems to occur, local knowledge and traditions together with scientific findings would be key to exploring new ways of achieving better and more sustainable agricultural strategies (Berg et al 2023).…”

The Impact of Individual Capabilities on Ecosystem Services and Farmers’ Well-Being: A Case Study of the Loess Plateau, China

“…For example, leisure as a cultural value is intangible, yet it is still important to human well-being [14,15]. The non-monetary value of ESs is often explained through the method of social preferences [16,17]; this method is considered to be an emerging tool for solving ecological problems and understanding individual needs for ESs [18,19]. For example, in some areas with high resource dependence, a farmer's social preference for the importance of ESs represents their expectation and need for these ESs, which is effective in promoting local poverty alleviation and development [20].…”

“…Farmers living in ecologically fragile areas face high livelihood risks due to their excessive dependence on local ecosystems, which results in lower quality of life and well-being [27]. By giving attention to the importance and accessibility of different ESs to farmers, the government can determine the special needs of farmers for ESs and the difficulty of obtaining specific ES types and promote the formulation of ecological policies by the government to be more targeted and effective [17,28]. The satisfaction of needs and adequate access to ESs can not only improve people's income and other aspects of their objective wellbeing [29][30][31] but also increase their subjective well-being, such as life satisfaction and happiness [4,32,33]; thus, ESs can help them enhance their multidimensional well-being.…”