EVALUATING ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF WETLANDS BASED ON AHP METHOD: A STUDY ON HUIYANG, GREATER BAY AREA IN CHINA

Wetland ecosystems can be effectively managed to produce sustainable services and benefits for human beings. Thus, it is considered as an essential component of Earth's life-support system. It has been studied quantitatively, but few studies have focused on exact local characteristics of various wetlands in Greater Bay Area (GBA) to continuously quantify the value of ecological services. Against the background of fast urbanization and wetland degradation in GBA, as a famous ecological core in China, Huiyang is of great importance for its ecological, social, and cultural functions in the whole region. Thus, this study aims to provide decision-making references for wetland protection and development in this area. All the wetlands in Huiyang, including mangroves, inland tidal flats, and coastal tidal flats, were included as research objects. Based on the investigated wetland resources, multiple methods were combined to study their wetland services, including pollution prevention cost, substitution cost, and travel expense calculation. Creatively, five factors were selected by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method: water purification, carbon fixation, shore protection, biodiversity conservation, and leisure tourism. After a comparison, the results showed that the total value of wetland ecosystem services in Huiyang was nearly 30.47 million dollars in 2020. Among the three types of services, the value of leisure tourism service was dominant, accounting for 95%. Among the five factors, the ranking sequence was: leisure tourism, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, shore protection, and water purification. Based on the results, this paper provides a basis for more cities to scientifically measure the value of their wetlands, further utilize the wetland services in a more balanced