Water purifi cation and waste treatment Yucatan, Mexico Freshwater systems play an important

part in decomposing organic waste. © 2009 Thomas P. Peschak/ iLCP

Disease mitigation Northern Brazil A mosquito (Toxorhynchites amboinensis) caught in a vial may have picked up the yellow-fever virus from a monkey which car- ried it without ill eff ects. Intact forests reduce the occurrence of

standing water – a breeding area for mosquitoes. © 2005 Karen Kasmauski/ iLCP

26 VITAL GRAPHICS ON PAYMENT FOR ECOSYSTEM SERVICES