Valuing the environment
The true value of nature can be shown for the very first time thanks to groundbreaking research by hundreds of British scientists. The UK National Ecosystem Assessment finds the benefits of our outdoor spaces are worth billions every year. By Nick Stevens
T
here’s no doubt that most of us value our parks, mountains, valleys, rivers, forests and coastline, but how much? If pressed, could any of us put a monetary figure on
the relaxation benefits, health and happiness our outdoors spaces give us? For the first time, a wide-ranging, multi- disciplinary report into the UK’s ecosystems does just that. The report – the UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) – measures the benefits the natural environment provides to society and continuing economic prosperity. The report estimates that the health benefits of living near a green space are worth up to £300 per person per year and looking at the many other ‘services’ our natural environment provides, the actual value to the UK economy as a whole runs to billions of pounds every year. The NEA brought together more than 500
experts in ecology, economics and social sciences under the chairmanship of Professor Bob Watson and Professor Steve Albon, and was funded by Defra, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Natural Environment Research Council and the ESRC. The funding was co-ordinated through
the RCUK Living with Environmental Change partnership (LWEC), formed of 22 government departments, devolved administrations, research councils and other bodies.
Where the UK NEA differs from previous studies of the environment is the new approaches it uses to estimate the value of the natural world
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by taking account of the economic, health and social benefits we get from nature. Traditionally, the common view has been that caring for the environment means extra financial burdens. However the UK NEA shows that there are real economic reasons for looking after nature.
“ The NEA shows that we
need a more integrated approach to ecosystem management
The assessment provides values for a range of ecosystem services to help us fully understand the value of the natural environment and how the benefits to individuals and society as a whole can be better protected and preserved for future generations. For example, the UK NEA finds that the
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benefits that inland wetlands bring to water quality are worth up to £1.5 billion per year to the UK. The threat to UK agriculture caused by declining bee populations is well-documented, but through its research the UK NEA can put the value of pollinators to British agriculture at £430 million per year. Looking at leisure and recreation, according to the UK NEA the amenity benefits of living close to rivers, coasts and other wetlands are worth up to £1.3 billion per year to the UK, making a strong economic rather than emotional case for fighting for their protection and preservation. “The concept of ecosystem goods and services was introduced
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