  Photograph of Earth, taken from Apollo 17 | Credit: Wikimedia Commons
By IDN Environment Desk
IDN-InDepth NewsFacts
(IDN) - What the 'Mother Earth' is worth to its inhabitants is no longer a mystery. 'The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB)', hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and a myriad of other recent reports and initiatives are providing a glimpse of the value of the Earth's natural assets and their role in development.
UNEP's new report -- 'Dead planet, living planet: Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration for sustainable development' -- says that ecosystems are estimated to deliver essential services worth between $21 trillion and up to $72 trillion a year, comparable to World Gross National Income in 2008 of $58 trillion.
Wetlands, half of which have been drained over the past century often for agriculture, provide annual services of near $7 trillion.
Forested wetlands treat more wastewater per unit of energy and have up to 22 fold higher cost-benefit ratios than traditional sand filtration in treatment plants.
Coastal wetlands in the United States, which among other services provide storm protection, have been valued at $23 billion annually.
In India, mangroves serving as storm barriers have been noted to reduce individual household damages from $153 per household to an average of $33 per household in areas with intact mangroves.
Pollination from bees and other insects provide services boosting agricultural production worth at least $153 billion annually.
Ecosystems are also central in natural pest control, indeed, many of the world's key crops such as coffee, tea and mangoes are dependent on the pollination and pest control services of birds and insects.
By some estimates projected loss of ecosystem services could lead to up to 25 per cent loss in the world's food production by 2050 increasing the risks of hunger.
Services delivered by the Mau forest complex in Kenya, such as hydropower, drinking water, moisture for the tea industry and river flows to key tourist attractions including the Massai Mara and Lake Nakuru, are worth an estimated $320 million a year.
The $320 million was based on a calculation in 2008. New calculations by the Kenya Forest Research Institute indicate that the ecosystem services of the Mau may be more like $1.5 billion a year after adding additional beneficiary sectors such as drinking water provision to cities and carbon storage of greenhouse gases.
Currently 75 per cent of globally, usable freshwater supplies come from forests. Many cities including Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Melbourne, New York and Jakarta all rely on protected areas to provide residents with drinking water.
Overall one third of the world's 100 largest cities draw a substantial proportion of their drinking water from forest protected areas.
Without the national protected area network in Venezuela, sedimentation of rivers could reduce farm earnings by around $3.5 million a year.
The value of coastal wetlands for hurricane protection has been estimated at $250 51,000 per hectare per year, with an average of $8,240 per hectare per year.
Over 80 per cent of people in developing countries rely on traditional plant-based medicines for basic healthcare.
Three-quarters of the world's top-selling prescription drugs include ingredients derived from plant extracts.
Environmental degradation including ecosystem losses is augmenting the impact of natural disasters such as floods, droughts and flash floods affecting 270 million people annually and killing some 124,000 people worldwide every year, of which 85 per cent are in Asia.
Greenhouse gas emissions from peatland drainage in Southeast Asia is contributing the equivalent of 1.3 to 3.1 per cent of current global CO2 emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel - as well as threatening the survival of the endangered orangutans.
The recent agreement signed on 26 May 2010 between Norway and Indonesia on the financial support of US$ one billion to reduce deforestation and draining of peatlands, provides a new impetus for both climate change mitigation and the endangered orang-utans in these unique forests.
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION
The UNEP report published June 3 underlines that conserving existing ecosystems is far cheaper than restoration.
Effective conservation, such as that practised in many National Parks and protected areas may cost from a few tens of dollars to a few hundred dollars per hectare.
However, protected areas cover only 13 per cent, 6 per cent and less than 1 per cent of the planet's land, coastal and ocean areas.
Many important ecosystems fall outside these areas. Restoration costs may be ten times higher than managing existing ecosystems, but still something of a bargain considering the returns in terms of restored nature-based services.
Indeed the report says that compared to loss of ecosystem services, well-planned restorations may provide cost benefit ratios of 3 75 in terms of return on investment.
Initial studies compiled by TEEB indicate that restoration of grasslands, woodlands and forests offer some of the highest rates of returns.
The Turkish city of Istanbul has increased the number of people served with wastewater treatment over 20 years from a few hundred thousand to over nine million-95 per cent of the population-by rehabilitating and cleaning river banks, relocating polluting industries, installing water treatment works and re-establishing river-side vegetation.
In Vietnam, planting and protecting nearly 12,000 hectares of mangroves has cost just over $1 million but saved annual expenditure on dyke maintenance of well over $7 million.
In Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, strict law enforcement, costing the lives of over 190 rangers, has helped restore the critically endangered mountain gorilla population back to a slight increase in the Virungas National Park -- and is generating large revenues from tourism.
Restoration of over 500 hectares of mangroves in India's Andhra Pradesh region has cost $3 million over seven years but has increased the population of edible crabs and fodder for livestock thereby boosting local incomes while increasing biodiversity such as otter and birds.
Coastal ecosystems in Biscayne Bay, Florida have been restored for annual benefit worth $1.7 million.
Banning unsustainable fishing methods; re-introductions of native fish species and re-planting of native aquatic grasses have transformed the once highly polluted and degraded Lake Hong in China.
Since 2003, water quality has improved dramatically, rare birds like the Oriental White Stork have returned after 20 years and fisher folk have seen incomes triple.
Among the case studies is a re-afforestation project in an area of Tanzania called the Shinyanga region just south of Lake Victoria.
Until recently it was nick-named the Desert of Tanzania as a result of deforestation and the conversion of woodlands into croplands.
However an 18-year project aimed at creating village-based woodland enclosures has reversed land degradation and improved rural livelihoods.
Some 350,000 hectares of ngitili, the local world for enclosures, have been planted covering well over 800 villages and 2.8 million people.
Studies by the Tanzanian government and the group IUCN highlights multiple improvements such as better diets and food security and less time spent by women searching for fuel wood.
The cash benefits of the restoration alone are estimated at about $14 per person per month, some $5.50 higher than the national average.
Under the UN's climate agreements, countries are moving to pay developing nations to conserve rather than fell forests.
Known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation, this could lead to an estimated halving of deforestation rates by 2030.
By some estimates this could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 1.5-2.7 billion tons annually at a cost of just over $17 billion to $33 billion per year, but with a long-term benefit estimated at $3.7 trillion in present value terms.
Under the Scolel Te Project in Mexico, some 700 farmers in 40 communities have planted over 700 hectares of trees on degraded land to sequester carbon receiving tens of thousands of dollars from the carbon offset markets-which in this case is linked with offsetting Formula One racing and the World Rally Championship. (IDN-InDepthNews/05.06.2010)
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2010 IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters
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