Economic evaluation of wetland ecosystems in Lao PDR - Case Study: Boung Kiat Ngong Wetlands

Boung Kiat Ngong (BKN) is a rural wetland located in Phathomphone District, Champasak Province and plays an important role for local residents in term of providing direct and indirect benefits. BKN has significant biodiversity, and will be first RAMSAR site in Laos. However, there are a number of threats to BKN. One of the most significant threats is the high demand for land and water from BKN for rice cultivation during the dry season.

However, very few studies on the value of direct and indirect benefits of wetland ecosystems and on the resultant cost of significantly altering these ecosystems have been conducted in Laos. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop simple wetland valuation tool to identify both direct and indirect value of wetland ecosystems which can be used by policy and decision makers. This tool is to be tested on the Boung Kiat Ngong.