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People’s Dependency on Wetlands: South Asia Perspective with Emphasis on Nepal

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Wetland Science

Abstract

Wetland ecosystem is a lifeline for people both in a global and regional scale. Different resources are being provided by this ecosystem for the welfare of humankind since ancient times in the form of food, drinking and irrigation water, fuel wood, timber, medicinal herbs, and non-wood forest products. People’s dependency on wetland ecosystems has been increasing in recent years, and South Asia is a good example. However, the booming population and increasing dependency have threatened the wetlands due to unsustainable resource harvesting. Wetlands in Nepal are spatially distributed from lowlands to highlands and are of great value to local people for sustaining their livelihood. However, the degree of their dependency differs with their location. Though the dependency on wetland resources is high in Nepal, people still do not recognize all the ecosystem services of wetlands.

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Correspondence to Pramod Lamsal .

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Lamsal, P., Atreya, K., Pant, K.P., Kumar, L. (2017). People’s Dependency on Wetlands: South Asia Perspective with Emphasis on Nepal. In: Prusty, B., Chandra, R., Azeez, P. (eds) Wetland Science . Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3715-0_21

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