Application of forest resource valuation and accounting system: A case of forest resources of Sikkim, India

The conservation and sustainable use of forest resources is emerging as an issue of great national and global concern. Forest resources worldwide, and particularly in developing countries, are prone to various threats. In the past few decades, recording of forest benefits was one of the major prioritized concerns. Proper forest resource valuation and accounting would help better understanding of the stock and flow of the forest resources and thus represent the status of forests resources not only in quantitative/qualitative terms but also in monetary terms. The article presents two case studies to highlight the conventional system of forest resource accounting (FRA); estimate the values of various forests goods and services; and reflect on the extent of distortion in the existing system of FRA. It also presents an approach for improving the conventional system of FRA through incorporation of unrecorded forest benefits.