Economic reasons for conserving wild nature.
On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.
Balmford
Andrew
A
Conservation Biology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. a.balmford@zoo.cam.ac.uk
Bruner
Aaron
A
Cooper
Philip
P
Costanza
Robert
R
Farber
Stephen
S
Green
Rhys E
RE
Jenkins
Martin
M
Jefferiss
Paul
P
Jessamy
Valma
V
Madden
Joah
J
Munro
Kat
K
Myers
Norman
N
Naeem
Shahid
S
Paavola
Jouni
J
Rayment
Matthew
M
Rosendo
Sergio
S
Roughgarden
Joan
J
Trumper
Kate
K
Turner
R Kerry
RK
D000383:Agriculture; D017756:Aquaculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017753:Ecosystem; D004777:Environment; D016468:Forestry; D006801:Humans; D017149:Private Sector; D014197:Trees