Coastal ecosystems in the Gulf of Mottama deliver services with substantial economic value to local communities. The average household in the six villages assessed in this study receives provisioning and regulating services worth approximately 19.98 million MMK (9,514 USD) per year. Provisioning services contribute the largest share of the total economic value of coastal ecosystems. In villages with large areas of neighbouring mangrove cover, the value of protection from floods, storms and erosion is also of economic importance.

The results are highly village specific. The economic value of both provisioning and regulating services varies greatly across villages depending on the extent of coastal ecosystems in the vicinity of each village and the level of dependence on resource extraction. This variation in values across villages means that it is not straightforward to generalise the importance of ecosystem services or extrapolate results to other areas of the GoM. Similarly, the relative importance of different ecosystem types varies greatly across villages. In all cases, however, rivers and the sea are the most important source of harvestable resources. Harvested resources are primarily sold but a substantial proportion is also used for subsistence consumption. The value of subsistence income can be high; the average household directly consumes resources harvested from rivers and the sea with a value of 10.8 million MMK (1,200 USD) per year. A high proportion of households that coastal ecosystems have changed negatively (in extent, condition, and access) during the past 10 years and view the conversion of ecosystems to agriculture as detrimental to their livelihood.

Making a comparison between the annual value of coastal ecosystems and agricultural land, we find that the value of ecosystem services from mangroves and mudflats generally exceeds the returns on land converted to agriculture.