Valuing the Role of Mangroves in Storm Damage Reduction in Coastal Areas of Odisha

Background

Building resilience has become a significant concern for coastal communities due to future sea level rise and more frequent tropical storms caused by climate change. Mangroves can provide coastal resilience by reducing lives lost and property damage from tropical storms. These benefits demonstrate how including these ecosystem services in sustainable land use planning could be an economically viable coastal resilience strategy.

Goals and Methods

This study examines the October 1999 super cyclone in the Kendrapada district in Odisha, India. The author determined the storm protection services of mangroves by estimating the averted damages (i.e., human lives, livestock loss, residential house damage) due to mangrove presence at the village and Gram Panchayat (local government unit) levels. The author estimated the averted damages due to mangrove presence by using a cyclone damage model, then valued these damages in Indian rupees (Rs) to estimate the storm protection value. 

Conclusions and Takeaways

The storm protection value of each km of mangrove width in 1999 would have been Rs 39,568 for the state, from avoided compensation for storm damages, and Rs 3,339,166 for society, due to saving human lives, livestock, and preventing house damage. The benefit for averting damages to human lives, livestock, and houses is Rs 182,080 per hectare of mangroves, and the total benefits are estimated to be much greater since these three assets are only one-tenth of the total averted damages. The annual storm protection value per hectare of mangroves adjusted by the 0.2 annual probability of devastating cyclones (Rs 364,160) is more than twice the market price of cleared mangrove land (Rs 172,970) and 18 to 26 times higher than the annual return from land (Rs 13,837 to Rs 20,756). These values demonstrate that preserving mangroves is an economically justifiable strategy for coastal resilience and tropical storm protection.