Ecosystems worth more in natural state

FORESTS and wetlands are more economically valuable if preserved than used for farming or timber, a Cambridge University study has found.

Researchers calculated the financial benefits that natural ecosystems bring to the world and compared these to the value of converting them to farmland or harvesting them for economic gain.

Of 24 sites across six continents around the world, more than 70 per cent provided more value to humanity in their natural state, including all forest sites examined.

One UK case study was Hesketh Out Marsh, a saltmarsh near Preston, which was found to be worth almost £1,500 per hectare, outstripping any value that could otherwise be found in farming. Scientists also calculated that if forested Shivapuri-nagarjun park in Nepal was converted to farmland, it would cause a deficit of almost £8 million per year.

The findings come weeks after a report commissioned by the Treasury called for nature to be valued as part of the global economic system.