SD-scene: Issue 20; September / October 2009

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Beach If a piece of land doesn’t currently have an economic value, does that mean it’s worthless? Not when it provides ecosystem services.

The Price of Nature

How do you put a value on a peat bog? Should a piece of coastline be protected against flooding at all costs? Or should we let the flood happen but manage it in a way which improves the environment as well as reducing the risk to people and property?

These are tough questions, and finding answers to them is central to Defra’s new approach to environmental policy making. Since the end of 2007, the Department has been working to implement its action plan, “Securing a healthy natural environment: An action plan for embedding an ecosystems approach”.

Central to the ecosystems approach is the idea that nature provides mankind with important ‘ecosystem services’ – resources such as fuel and food, but also less tangible services such as clean air, water purification and flooding protection. The ecosystems approach aims to ensure that the full value of what the natural environment offers society is reflected in all policy decisions. In 2007, Defra published an introductory guide (PDF 440 KB) on how the value of ecosystems and the services they provide can be taken into account in policy-making, and is reviewing policy-making tools to see how the ecosystems approach could be embedded further.

The approach has its roots in 1970s thinking. This was when scientists began to consider the natural environment as a web of finely balanced systems providing benefits essential to a healthy planet. In 2005, this concept came to the fore when more than 1,000 scientists worldwide completed the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), which gave an unprecedented snapshot of the condition of our ecosystems.

Since then, the ecosystems approach has become central to the global response to environmental degradation. For example, a key policy being developed to halt deforestation is based on the idea that rainforests have an economic value because they absorb carbon and help prevent climate change. Therefore, rather than cut them down, local people should receive payments to conserve them.

In the UK, Defra responded to the MA by launching the Ecosystems Approach Project, a programme of research and policy development that led to the action plan (PDF 490 KB). This is less of a policy than an approach to developing policy to maintain ecosystem services.

One example of the ecosystems approach in practice is in making decisions over coastal defences. A standard solution to coastal erosion might be to build a new wall to protect properties against rising seawater.

But an ecosystems approach to the same problem might instead propose turning the stretch of coast over to wetland, which could act as a buffer against flooding – by absorbing and slowly releasing water – and also provide habitats for wildlife and a recreational resource for people. The costs incurred from the loss of land to the sea could well be outweighed by the wider benefits. Such a calculation is typical of the way the ecosystems approach seeks to weigh up the broader costs and benefits of a policy.

The approach is being used in creating the new Marine Conservation Zones and in demonstrating the importance of conserving upland peat bogs for their carbon-storing qualities, water purification and flood prevention.

Bird The next major initiative for embedding an ecosystems approach is the National Ecosystem Assessment, a UK-wide project to assess the state of the UK’s ecosystems and the benefits they provide. These areas might vary from one-hectare patches that are important for a particular type of biodiversity to much larger ones, such as whole river catchment areas. It will also look at what we need to do in the future, to ensure that our ecosystems and the services they provide are properly managed. This will add to International efforts, notably the global study on The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity led by Pavan Sukhdev of Deutsche Bank which aims to sharpen awareness of the value of biodiversity and ecosystem services among policy-makers around the world.

A version of this article first appeared in Defra’s internal magazine, Landscape, in May 2009

Updated: 21 September 2009