Mountain ecosystems provide numerous services vital for the existence of humankind globally. The present study was conducted in the Ladakh region of India to evaluate the socio-cultural values of the ecosystem services provided by the mountainous region. Questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions were used for data collection. It was observed that the respondents identified provisioning and cultural services easily compared to regulating and supporting services. Among services, fresh water and grazing services were valued 5-rating score on a Likert scale of 1–5 by more than 90% of respondents. Likewise, 80% of respondents have a 5-rating score for water retention and regulation, water purification, aesthetic and recreation and ecotourism services. A similar result was observed when the priority of ecosystem services for villagers was discussed through focus group discussions. All respondents viewed freshwater, grazing, and aesthetic services as priority ecosystem services, whereas recreation and ecotourism were prioritised in four villages, water retention and regulation, and water purification in two villages. Using bivariate correlation, the study of interactions among ecosystem services (between services of the same category) demonstrated strong positive to moderate negative correlations. Similarly, the results of the Kruskal-Wallis test indicate that socio-economic factors, including gender, income, and education, have a notable impact (p < 0.05) on most of the services. This suggests that respondents' socio-economic backgrounds influence the values assigned to the services. However, the decline of crucial ecosystem services over the last two decades, as highlighted by participants in the in-depth interviews, raises alarm. Integrating socio-cultural values of ecosystem services while formulating any regional developmental policy could empower the policy-makers to take more informed, eco-friendly actions.

山区生态系统提供了对全球人类生存至关重要的众多服务。本研究在印度拉达克地区进行，旨在评估山区提供的生态系统服务的社会文化价值。采用问卷调查、深度访谈和焦点小组讨论的方式收集数据。据观察，与监管和支持服务相比，受访者更容易识别供应和文化服务。在服务中，超过 90% 的受访者对淡水和放牧服务的李克特量表评分为 5 分（1-5 分）。同样，80% 的受访者对保水和调节、水净化、审美和娱乐以及生态旅游服务的评分为 5 分。当通过焦点小组讨论讨论村民生态系统服务的优先事项时，也观察到了类似的结果。所有受访者都将淡水、放牧和审美服务视为优先的生态系统服务，而娱乐和生态旅游在四个村庄中被优先考虑，水保持和调节以及水净化在两个村庄中被优先考虑。使用双变量相关性，对生态系统服务之间（同一类别的服务之间）相互作用的研究表明存在强正相关到中度负相关。同样，Kruskal-Wallis 检验的结果表明，社会经济因素，包括性别、收入和教育，对大多数服务有显着影响 (p < 0.05)。这表明受访者的社会经济背景影响分配给服务的价值。然而，正如深度访谈参与者所强调的那样，过去二十年中关键生态系统服务的衰退引起了人们的警惕。在制定任何区域发展政策时整合生态系统服务的社会文化价值可以使政策制定者能够采取更明智、更环保的行动。