Ecosystem Services

The international community of nations has committed itself to achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level. And yet despite growing awareness and major efforts in all countries, the latest evidence indicates that biodiversity continues to be lost at a terrifying pace, resulting in what some call the greatest mass extinction since dinosaurs roamed the planet, 65

million years ago.

There are many reasons for the gap between aspiration and reality. One of the most important is that economic policies and markets generally fail to value biodiversity or the conservation of ecosystems. With few exceptions, there is little financial reward for conserving biodiversity, nor much penalty for destroying it. Policy incentives to encourage nature conservation are emerging around the world, and yet this trend remains handicapped by a lack of understanding of the economic benefits of conserving natural ecosystems, or the costs of biodiversity loss.

Ecosystems and biodiversity more generally, matter for many reasons. Ecosystems provide a wide variety of

useful services that enhance human well-being.  Without these services, we would be worse off in many ways. At the limit, we may not survive.  But even degradation of ecosystem services falling well short of outright destruction would significantly affect our welfare.

Ecosystem Services

The world’s ecosystems provide a huge variety of goods and services. We are all familiar with the valuable commodities that natural ecosystems provide, such as edible plants and animals, medicinal products, and materials for construction or clothing. Many of us likewise value the aesthetic or cultural benefits provided by natural ecosystems, including beautiful views and recreational opportunities. What is less well known is the extent to which human economies depend upon natural ecosystems for a range of biological and chemical processes. These ecosystem ‘services’ are provided free-of-charge as a gift of nature. Examples of ecosystem services include the purification of air and water; regulation of rainwater run-off and drought; waste assimilation and detoxification; soil formation and maintenance; control of pests and disease; plant pollination; seed dispersal and nutrient cycling; maintaining biodiversity for agriculture, pharmaceutical research and development and other industrial processes; protection from harmful ultraviolet radiation; climate stabilization (for example, though carbon sequestration); and moderating

extremes of temperature, wind, and waves.

Despite the services they provide, natural ecosystems worldwide are under tremendous pressure. Forest ecosystems are being converted to other uses; wetlands are being drained; and coral reefs are being destroyed. Freshwater resources are increasingly modified through impoundment, redirection, extraction, land use changes that affect recharge and flow rates, and pollution. Agricultural soils and pasture lands are being degraded from over-use. Some of these pressures are intentional effects of human activities, others are un-intended.