What are ecosystem services worth?
Examples of ecosystem services worth:
About 78% of the top medicines used in the U.S. come from nature.
Source: Actionbioscience
About 78% of the top medicines used in the U.S. come from nature.
- Much of the Mississippi River Valley’s natural flood protection services were destroyed when wetlands were drained and channels redirected. As a result, floods in 1993 resulted in property damages were estimated at 12 billion dollars.
- 80% of the world’s population relies upon medicines from nature. Of the top 150 prescription drugs used in the U.S., 118 originate from natural sources: 74% from plants, 18% from fungi, 5% from bacteria, and 3% from one vertebrate (snake species). Nine of the top 10 drugs originate from natural plant products.
- Over 100,000 different animal species — including bats, bees, flies, moths, beetles, birds, and butterflies — provide free pollination services. One third (33%) of human food comes from plants pollinated by wild pollinators. The value of pollination services from wild pollinators in the U.S. alone is estimated at 4 to 6 billion dollars per year.
- It would cost New York City billions to duplicate nature’s water filtration system. Before the natural ecosystems of New York became overwhelmed by agricultural and sewage runoff, New York City water ranked among the best in the nation. When the water fell below quality standards, the City investigated what it would cost to install an artificial filtration plant. The estimated price tag for this new facility was 6 to 8 billion dollars, plus annual costs of 300 million dollars — a high price to pay for what once was free. In 1997 New York City decided instead to invest a fraction of that cost ($660 million) in restoring the natural ecosystems it had in the Catskills watershed.
Source: Actionbioscience
Photo used under Creative Commons from Ray Devlin