Nature's services

Nature's services is a term for the ways in which nature benefits humans. It means particularly those benefits that can be measured in economic terms. Robert Costanza and other theorists of natural capital analysed nature's services to humanity in the 1990s.

The economic contribution of seventeen of these services they calculated to be about US$33 trillion per year, greater than the activities of the whole human economy, which was about US$25 trillion. This was based on estimated costs of replacing the services nature provides. For that purpose they were compared with equivalent services that are produced by humans. This calculation makes clear that mankind cannot develop without nature's services.

This study is central for the theory of natural capital.

But this study had no great influence on government policy or on WTO, IMF or G8 economic and trade policy.

Nature's Services Media

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  Honey bee on Avocado crop. Pollination is just one type of ecosystem service.

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  Upland bog in Wales, forming the official source of the River Severn. Healthy bogs sequester carbon, hold back water thereby reducing flood risk, and supply cleaned water better than degraded habitats do.

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  Social forestry in Andhra Pradesh, India, providing fuel, soil protection, shade, and even well-being to travelers.

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  Detritivores like this dung beetle help to turn animal wastes into organic material that can be reused by primary producers.

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  Beach accommodated into a recreational area.

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  Coral and other living organisms serve as habitats for many marine species.

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  Sustainable urban drainage pond near housing in Scotland. The filtering and cleaning of surface and waste water by natural vegetation is a form of ecosystem service.

Related pages

• Ecosystem services
• Experience Economy

References

• Amory B. Lovins, L. Hunter Lovins and Paul Hawken: A Road Map for Natural Capitalism Archived 2006-03-07 at the Wayback Machine (Pdf), in: Harvard Business Review May-June 1999, pp. 145–157