Published: 29 May 2008
- Accounting for all the benefits we gain
from ecosystems is an effective way of measuring
how biodiversity loss affects our well-being
and quality of life. The European Environment
Agency is feeding into the debate on the
'economics of ecosystems and biodiversity'
with an extensive study on 'Ecosystems accounts
for Mediterranean wetlands'.
'Biodiversity loss has
an impact on everything from food, water
and energy production, to life-saving drug
sources, to cultural and aesthetic benefits.
We can no longer take these benefits for
granted', says Professor Jacqueline McGlade,
Executive Director of the EEA. 'Understanding
the full value of what we keep losing is
a precondition for halting biodiversity
loss'.
Biodiversity loss does
not only mean loss of species, but also
loss and degradation of ecosystem functions.
Human impact can undermine or change the
productivity of ecosystems, the way nutrients
cycle within them, or alter the balance
between different species groups, undermining
the ecosystems' capacity to deliver services.
Once we focus on the direct link between
biodiversity and the benefits we derive
from ecosystem services, the real costs
of biodiversity loss to society become clear.
Every week, implications
of this loss, such as the rise in food prices,
make the headlines. Several factors are
at play: changing and rising demand across
the world, reductions in food supply due
to climate change as well as growing competition
for agricultural land to be used for food,
fuel, timber and housing. All of these factors
put strains on ecosystem services.
Linking society, economics
and the environment
Ecosystem accounts provide a single framework
to link all the social, economic and environmental
resources on which our well-being depends.
Ultimately, they help us to understand the
costs of such change, either in monetary
terms or in terms of risks to human health
or livelihood.
As a contribution to
the debate on the economics of biodiversity,
the EEA is currently carrying out an extensive
ecosystem accounts study on Mediterranean
wetlands with the aim of showing the utility
of this approach. A briefing, an executive
summary and a poster highlighting first
outcomes for selected sites such as the
Camargue Delta (France), the Doñana
Park (Spain) or the Amvrakikos Bay (Greece),
are presented today at a side event during
COP 9 (the ninth meeting of the Conference
of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity) in Bonn, Germany. The study will
be completed and published later in the
year.
Background information on the economics
of ecosystems and biodiversity
The importance of ecosystem services for
human well-being was highlighted in the
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) in
2005, which reported that at global scales,
60 % of the services examined in the study
(15 out of 24) are being degraded or used
unsustainably. Human activity has been responsible
for most of the damage — largely through
the effects it has had on the biodiversity
and the integrity of ecological systems.
These findings were
at the heart of the policy discussions during
the G8+5 Summit in May 2007, in Potsdam,
Germany, where Heads of States asked for
a comprehensive evaluation of the costs
of biodiversity loss. Progress on this complex
evaluation is presented today by an interim
report on 'The economics of ecosystems and
biodiversity' to the Contracting Parties
to the Convention on Biological Diversity
in Bonn, Germany.
