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The Economic Value of Nature

Put a Value on Nature

Our world is ruled by economics, and the constant drive for growth. However there is a major problem, we have not realized the value of nature and the immense amount of "natural capital" we destroy every year.

This video briefly explores how valuable nature is all levels; ecosystems, species, and genetics. An example of the value of species is that the job pollinators do for agriculture is worth $190 billion. For genetics, 60% of all medicines have been found in the rainforest.

We are trapped with our "inability to perceive the difference between public benefits and private profits." Because of this we have no idea how much money we are wasting by exploiting our resources.

 An excellent example of this is the shrimp farms in Thailand. If we just look at the private profits the shrimp farms produce $9,632, while the natural mangroves only $584. If we take into account the profits without subsidies then the shrimp drops to$1,220. Finally if we take into account the cost of restorations after a shrimp farm so that the water is once again productive after 5 years and how much mangroves benefit the public (protection from storms, clean water, etc.) we see a drastic change. The shrimp farming is valued at $-11,172 and the mangroves are valued at $12,392. Clearly it makes economic sense to protect mother earth.

We are far too ignorant to how nature cares for us and are therefore far to quick to exploit it. Once we understand how valuable it is protection would only make sense and the poor natives who taught us how to use it would get paid for the invaluable knowledge they gave to us. Though right now they are the ones who depends the most on the land (90% of their livelyhood) and they along with nature suffer as we destroy our capital.

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Permafrost Melting

Melting permafrost called ticking time bomb

It is estimated by the 2007 International Counsel of Climate Change report that by the middle of the century 20% of all permafrost in the northern hemisphere may have disappeared.

This is a problem for Natives living in the north and for the entire world. For natives this means entire towns being washed away and poisonous gases being released. For the world these gases mean further intensification of global warming.

According to predictions 45 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gasses could seep into the air in the next 30 years as permafrost melts. By 2100, 300 billion tonnes of carbon (in the form of carbon dioxide and methane) could be released.

But these are just estimates very little is known about how soon or how much carbon will be released and how this will affect our climate. Still the threat is here and it will not go away as global temperatures only promise to rise.

“The analogy is that it’s a big train about to derail,” said Dr. Merritt Turetsky, a University of Guelph ecologist who participated in the recent permafrost studies. “Once it begins, permafrost thaw occurs slowly but you can’t stop it. That lack of control makes anybody feel nervous.”