Goods and Services and Equivalent Economic Benefits of Sand Dunes of India

Sand dunes are simply an extension of the beach which is a reservoir of sand, during storms when the waves erode the dune and carry the sand into the sea. They are providing habitat for shellfish, birds, rodents, and ungulates. They have been used for coastal defense, water catchment areas, agriculture purposes, mining, and housing. Many of the goods and services produced by the sand dunes are not easily quantified and accounted for since they are not being traded in the formal market. Hence, many of the environmental benefits have been often neglected or even ignored by the economy, industry, coastal communities, and other stakeholders. Systematic accounting of the benefits shall enlighten the relationship between environmental function, human dependency, and economics. Though there are many goods and services, economic assessment of sand dune landforms is scarce.

Estimated values of sand dune landforms allow policymakers to assess the benefits that society gains from the environmental feature. The monetary value of sand dune landforms goods and services shall be a tool to raise awareness and convey the (relative) importance of the environmental feature to the general public and policymakers. In addition, the monetary value shall support decision-making on the allocation of resources for competing uses. This policy paper analysis assesses the economic value of sand dune landforms to wise use of the sand dune and sustainable management of the coastal environment.

This policy paper used the Benefit Transfer method to estimate the equivalent economic benefit of the sand dune landforms. The monetary benefit of sand dunes in a one-hectare area of the sand dune has been estimated at Rs.8220002/ha./yr =US$ 176103.66(average). Sand dunes have been distributed in 1231 patches with a total area of 32445 ha. Using the average value of sand dune benefits, the equivalent economic benefit from sand dunes of India cost Rs. 26670 crore/yr.=US$ 5.71 billion. Among the coastal States and UTs, Andhra Pradesh State has a huge area (11594 ha.) of sand dunes which share Rs. 9530 crore/yr.=US$ 2.04 billion which occupies 36% of the total sand dunes of India.