Protecting natural habitats worth more to economy than exploiting land

PARKS, lakes, trees and wildlife are now worth more to the economy than intensive farming and deforestation, says a major report.

The economic benefits of protecting nature now outweigh those of exploiting it, global data reveals.

An analysis found “ecosystem services” like carbon storage and flood protection offer better value for money than converting it for crops and timber.

The findings are based on dozens of sites stretching across six continents, from Kenya to Fiji and China to the UK.

Senior author Professor Andrew Balmford, of Cambridge University, said: “Current rates of habitat conversion are driving a species extinction crisis unlike anything in human history.

“Even if you are only interested in dollars and cents, we can see that conserving and restoring nature is now very often the best bet for human prosperity.

“The findings echo at an operational scale the overall conclusions drawn by the

Dasgupta Review.”

They come weeks after a landmark report by Cambridge researcher Professor Partha Dasgupta calling for biodiversity to be placed at the heart of global economics.

The British team worked out an annual net value of a range of goods and services for 24 sites under “nature-focused” and “alternative” states, projecting it for 50 years.

A major financial boost from natural habitats is their capturing of greenhouse gases, slowing up climate change.

If each tonne of carbon has a conservative cost of $31 (£22.42) to society then more than 70 per cent – including 70% of forest sites – are worth more in their current form.

Even at $5 (£3.61) a tonne,

60% provide greater value when unconverted or restored to natural habitats.

And removing the gas completely from calculations showed almost half (42%) still do.

Lead author Dr Richard Bradbury, of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, said: “Stemming biodiversity loss is a vital goal in itself. But nature also fundamentally underpins human wellbeing.

“We need nature-related financial disclosure and incentives for naturefocused land management, whether through taxes and regulation or subsidies for ecosystem services.”