Restoring lost and damaged ecosystems–from forests and freshwaters to mangroves and wetlands–can trigger multi-million dollar returns, generate jobs and combat poverty according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Launched on the eve of World Environment Day (WED), the report draws on thousands of ecosystem restoration projects world-wide and showcases over 30 initiatives that are transforming the lives of communities and countries across the globe.
The report, titled "Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development," underlines that far from being a tax on growth and development, many environmental investments in degraded, nature-based assets can generate substantial and multiple returns.
Speaking at the report launch in Kigali, Rwanda, Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The ecological infrastructure of the planet is generating services to humanity worth by some estimates over $70 trillion a year, perhaps substantially more. In the past these services have been invisible or near invisible in national and international accounts. This should and must change".
"This report is aimed at bringing two fundamental messages to governments, communities and citizens on World Environment Day and in 2010-the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity. Namely that mismanagement of natural and nature-based assets is under cutting development on a scale that dwarfs the recent economic crisis," he said.
"Two: that well-planned investments and re-investments in the restoration of these vast, natural and nature-based utilities not only has a high rate of return. But will be central, if not fundamental, to sustainability in a world of rising aspirations, populations, incomes and demands on the Earth’s natural resources," Steiner concluded.
The report 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%, 6% and less than 1% 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.
The Economic Case for Ecosystems
Through The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), hosted by UNEP, and a myriad of other recent reports and initiative, the value of the Earth’s natural assets and their role in development are now being glimpsed.
It is estimated that ecosystems 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% 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 abd 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. Today it was announced by the Kenya Forest Research Institute that new calculations 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% 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.
The report makes a series of recommendations:
- Urging overseas development agencies; international finance agencies and other funders such as regional development banks to factor ecosystem restoration and long term management assistance into development support; food security initiatives; job creation and poverty alleviation funding.
- 1% of GDP should be set aside annually for conservation, management and restoration of the environment and natural resources, with the precise amount linked to national circumstances.
- That ecosystem restoration is guided by experiences learned to date to avoid unintended consequences such as the introduction of alien invasive species and pests.
- That priority is initially given to biodiversity and ecosystem ‘hotspots’.
- That infrastructure projects that damage an ecosystem has funds set aside to restore a similar degraded ecosystem elsewhere in a country or community.
The full report is available at the link below.
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