Rapid assessment approach of Zarivar international wetland ecosystem services in Marivan County

 ABSTRACT
Recognition and evaluation of wetland ecosystem services and ecological coherence can be effective in the supply and sustainability of services at different levels. In this regard, the current research has evaluated the ecosystem services of Zarivar wetland by using the rapid assessment ecosystem services approach and the millennium ecosystem services assessment framework for the sustainability and development of its services. In order to evaluate the services in four categories of provisioning, regulating, cultural, and support services, the rapid evaluation approach of Ramsar Convention services was used. Data collection was based on interview tools and questionnaires from local experts, experts from wetland-related institutions, and members of environmental associations in the region, 55 of whom were purposefully selected. The Ecosystem Service Index (ESI) was used to compare and score the importance of services. The results showed the positive potential of Zarivar wetland in all 4 categories of services, such that cultural services have the highest positive potential (ESI=0.66) and supporting services (ESI=0.57), regulating services (ESI=0.42) and provisioning services (ESI=0.38) were in the next place. The comparison of services provided at different levels showed that most services were reported locally. The correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between different wetland ecosystem services, which causes synergy between its services. The results of applying the rapid assessment approach can be used in local and national policy frameworks and decision-making processes
Extended Abstract
Introduction
Recognizing and evaluating wetland ecosystem services, their effective management of human and natural threats, and the ecological integrity of the wetland are crucial in the supply and sustainability of services at the local, regional, and even global levels. Wetlands are among the most productive and valuable ecosystems in the world, providing a wide range of economic, social, environmental, and cultural benefits currently classified as ecosystem services. Despite the apparent importance of wetlands, their value is routinely overlooked, and they are often suffering from poor decision-making, leading to the ongoing loss and degradation of wetlands and their services. An appropriate approach to prevent this inefficiency is intensely identifying and valuing the ecosystem services wetlands provide for the region. In this regard, the rapid assessment approach to support wetland ecosystem services was developed by identifying the practical time and resource constraints faced by operational staff and providing a simple, user-friendly, and cost-effective approach to support the systemic assessment of the full range of wetland ecosystem services. The conceptual framework of this approach assumes a dynamic interaction between people and ecosystems that changes in human conditions directly and indirectly cause changes in ecosystems, and changes in ecosystems cause changes in human well-being. An overview of related literature reveals that there are very few studies aiming to provide a methodology and an approach for integrating ecosystem services into the framework of evaluation and management of wetland ecosystems, and the focus of studies on the biophysical processes of wetlands has been more than the evaluation of ecosystem services. Therefore, the current research aims to identify and evaluate the importance of Zarivar wetland services as an international and unique wetland located in the west of Iran with the approach of rapid assessment of ecosystem services to protect and develop ecosystem services and to present practical recommendations dealing with challenges of its ecosystem services.
Methodology
In order to evaluate Zarivar wetland ecosystem services from the respondents' point of view, ecosystem service indicators were taken from the framework of evaluation of Millennium ecosystem services (2003) and Ramsar Convention (2018) in four axes, including regulating, provisioning, cultural and support sectors and the approach of rapid assessment of wetland ecosystem services. It was applied through interviews with key participants in the region. These participants consisted of selected informants from among the local leaders living in the villages on the edge of the wetland (30 people), members of the environmental associations of the Zarivar wetland (Green Chia Association and Zhivan Association) (11 people), official experts from government institutions involved in management Zarivar Wetland (14 people), and some purposefully selected local people (55 people). The list of ecosystem services in this approach was modified and adapted according to the local context through dialogue and consultation with local stakeholders who were deeply familiar with the wetland. The exact scope of the evaluated area was defined objectively by the expert evaluator based on the purpose or scope of the evaluation, which in this study was the watershed area of Zarivar wetland and the area of its wildlife refuge. A checklist of services grouped into functional categories was originally defined in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and was set as an initial structural framework. In the next step, the semi-quantitative importance of each service was scored on a scale from "significantly positive" (++) to "neutral" (0) to "significantly negative" (--), as indicated. Equation (1) was used to derive the index of comparable ecosystem services; the range of ESI is from +1 to -1, calculated for each of the four categories of ecosystem services or a combined value for all services. Positive scores and close to one indicate the significant potential and importance of the wetland in providing the desired service, and negative scores and close to one indicate the negative potential of the wetland in that service. A score of zero indicates the wetland's unimportance and lack of potential in terms of the intended service. Finally, the collected data was analyzed using spss25 and Excel software.
 Equation (1) ESI=
 
Results and discussion
The study's results showed the positive potential of wetlands in all four intended categories of services, which indicates the potential for positive contributions of wetlands to human well-being. Perhaps the most important services provided by the wetland, from the respondents' point of were cultural services with an ecosystem service index (ESI = 0.66), supporting services with an ecosystem service index (ESI = 0.57), and regulating services with an ecosystem service index (ESI= 0.42) and provisioning services with ecosystem service index (ESI = 0.38). The findings of the contribution of Zarivar wetland ecosystem services at the local, regional, and global levels showed that 34 of the 36 classified services are provided locally and support most wetland residents. Zarivar has also provided 10 services at the regional level, 5 of which are in the regulating dimension (regulating air quality, pollination, reducing the risk of floods and storms, and purifying outgoing water), three services in the cultural dimension (cultural heritage, tourism, and recreation, education, and research) and two cases in the provisioning dimension (genetic resources and medicinal plants). According to the acquired results, at the global level, Zarivar has provided five important services as protection of genetic resources, global climate regulation with carbon storage and sequestration, tourism and recreation, education and research, and habitat provision for biodiversity and protection of rare species. The results of the applied correlation test between Zarivar wetland ecosystem services show a positive and significant correlation between all five main services (sig= 99% level). In other words, it can be concluded that there is a kind of convergence between Zarivar wetland ecosystem services, which will change with tangible changes in each service. In the meantime, support services are highly correlated with other services. Some management strategies seem to weaken the provision of valuable services in this area.
 
Conclusion
The comprehensive management and integrated planning of wetlands with emphasis on good governance is necessary to develop the participation and accountability of various stakeholders and achieve win-win goals. Finally, some increasing economic development activities and goals should be targeted by recognizing the value of sustainable use of ecosystem services and using payment methods for ecosystem services to maintain and sustain services.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
 
Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.
 
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
 
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.