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There was also an interesting story in the New York Times about a a Stanford University biology professor who is studying our complex ecosystem.
An Economist for Nature Calculates the Need for More Protection
COTO BRUS, Costa Rica — Dawn is breaking over this remote upland region, where neat rows of coffee plants cover many of the hillsides. The rising tropical sun saturates the landscape with color, revealing island like remnants of native forest scattered among the coffee plantations.
“Our economic system values land for two primary reasons,” said Adam Davis, a partner in Ecosystem Investment Partners, a company that manages high-priority conservation properties. “One is building on the land, and the second is taking things from the land.”
“Right now, the way a forest is worth money is by cutting it down,” Mr. Davis said. “We measure that value in board-feet of lumber or tons of pulp sold to a paper mill.” What has been missing, he says, is a countervailing economic force that measures the value of leaving a forest or other ecosystem intact.
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/science/09profile.html?_r=1&src=rechp ]
[quote=”Scott”] “What has been missing, he says, is a countervailing economic force that measures the value of leaving a forest or other ecosystem intact.”
[/quote]The same is true of coral reefs and mangrove forests, of which Costa Rica was formerly well endowed, but now diminishing rapidly.
The value of just 1km or coral reef can be up to $1.2 million (http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/coasts/coral_reefs/coral_facts/), and that’s just the beginning of the real value: http://www.wri.org/publication/content/7853.
The same is true for mangroves: their value in Mexico, for example, is $37,500 per hectare PER YEAR, and more today than in 2008 (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080721173757.htm). And how do you put a dollar value on aesthetics? Or for that matter, their importance in flood mitigation?
The ultimate explanation is population, and too much of it.
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