The list of ecosystem services of forests is long and wide-ranging, as documented in numerous studies. Forests provide habitat and clean water, regulate local and global climate, buffer weather events, protect watersheds, water flows and soils, store carbon, produce oxygen and support pollination and nutrient cycling. They also provide genetic resources for crops and have spiritual, cultural, recreational and tourism values. Despite the crucial importance of forest services for human survival, however, their pervasive and invisible nature means they tend to be taken for granted and perceived as “free”, yet various accounting systems give a different assessment. For example, when you add up the economic costs of greenhouse gas emissions, loss of natural resources, loss of nature-based services such as carbon storage, climate change and pollution-related health, the global top 100 environmental externalities cost the world economy around $4.7 trillion a year, according to a recent report by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB).
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 09:28:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015