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A study by the University of Vermont, the University of Cambridge, and several other institutions compared the value of protecting nature at particular locations with that of exploiting it. The study concluded that the economic benefits of conserving or restoring natural sites outweigh the profit potential of converting them for intensive human use.

The study analyzed dozens of sites across the globe – from Kenya to Fiji and China to the UK across six continents. It was published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

The analysis utilized a methodology devised ten years ago called TESSA (the Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment) which enables users to measure, and in many cases, assign monetary values to services provided by sites – clean water, nature-based recreation, crop pollination, and so on. This is then compared with the economic benefits that can be derived by converting the site for farming, logging, or other human uses.

A major economic benefit of natural sites comes from their ability to sequester carbon and thereby help regulate the quantity of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. If one assigns a value to global society of $31 a ton of carbon removed, over 70% of the sites surveyed had a greater value to society when kept natural rather than being converted. Many scientists actually consider this carbon price to be conservative. Nevertheless, if carbon is assigned the paltry cost of $5 a ton, 60% of the sites are still more valuable in their natural state.

Beyond these economic calculations, there is the pressing issue that current rates of habitat conversion are driving a species extinction crisis unprecedented in human history. But even if one is only interested in dollars and cents, conserving and restoring nature is now very often the best bet for human prosperity.

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Economic Benefits of Protecting Nature Exceed Value of Exploiting it, Global Study Finds

Photo, posted June 7, 2017, courtesy of Mouli Choudari via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

In recent times, Vermont and neighboring states have been losing forest land to development at a rate of almost 1,500 acres per year. With forest fragmentation gaining ground across New England, conserving land for future generations of people, wildlife, and plants has become both increasingly important and increasingly difficult.

According to a new study published by researchers at the University of Vermont, the state has already protected a third of the highest priority targeted lands needed to protect and connect valuable wildlife habitats and corridors. The protected lands amount to 1.3 million acres.

Most of the currently conserved lands are forested. However, there are high-priority targeted surface water and riparian areas – ponds, rivers, shorelines, and wetlands – and not nearly enough of these have been protected. (Many animals require zones along waterways in which to travel between the habitats they need to survive).

The state of Vermont and a number of partners have laid out a comprehensive and thoughtful vision that would ensure that Vermont remains a good place for all forms of life in the future. The new study provides a crucial benchmark of current levels of forest protection to help prioritize future conservation actions.

Three groups dominate in responsibility for the state’s protected lands: the federal government, the state government, and private non-profit organizations. (Each of these account for roughly a third of existing protected lands).

Going forward, Vermont’s nonprofits will play an increasingly important role in land conservation, especially in continuing to protect those areas that are rich with species diversity. Nonprofits are engaging more and more deeply in restoring wetlands that were previously degraded, planting new forests along river shores, and protecting unique natural communities while also protecting working forests and farmland.

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Vermont Has Conserved One Third of the Land Needed for an Ecologically Functional Future

Photo, posted June 15, 2014, courtesy of Wesley Carr via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Protecting Nature Is Valuable | Earth Wise

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Conservation In Vermont | Earth Wise

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