Environmental Value
Source: Denis Collette
It should be obvious that clean water is part of a healthy environment, sustaining our animal and plant populations. There are numerous valuable services that we rely upon that can only be provided by a healthy environment, which are not as obvious. If we continue our present practices of clearing landscapes, polluting water bodies, and of inefficient water use – we are at risk of losing the important services water now provides. What will this mean for the environment and how will it impact us? What is the value of a healthy environment to us and to people in general?
Healthy environments provide services such as:
- clean air
- waste filtration and assimilation
- clean water
- greenhouse gas emissions reduction
- flood prevention
- soil stability
- wildlife habitat
- alternative recreational services
- protection of genetic material
- aesthetic appreciation
- wildlife enhancement, and much more.
The artificial alternatives to these services (where they exist) would be extremely expensive to develop and operate. These services are being provided in a much more cost-effective and efficient way – it would be worth while to protect and maintain the current environments that supply them.
Unfortunately, these valuable services are not always recognized since it is difficult to quantify them. But by clearing land for development and not considering the full cost to society of removing services provided by the natural environment, decision makers may be substituting inefficient land uses for environmental services which, if left untouched, would generate far more value to society.
For example, New York City decided that it was far cheaper to pay $1.8 billion to private landowners to protect 80,000 acres in the watersheds providing its drinking water than to spend $8 billion to construct a new water filtration plant. The city not only saved the capital costs of the filtration plant, but also an additional $300 million per year in operating costs.
| Ecosystem Service | Ecosystem Function | Examples of Services |
|---|---|---|
| Disturbance avoidance | Integrity of ecosystem responses to environmental fluctuations | Storm protection, flood control, drought recovery and how vegetation structure helps control environmental variability |
| Water stabilization | Stabilization of hydrological flows | Supply water for agriculture use (irrigation), industrial use or transportation |
| Water supply | Storage and retention of water | Water storage by watersheds, reservoirs and aquifers |
| Erosion control & sediment retention | Retention of soil within an ecosystem | Prevention of soil loss by wind, runoff, other processes, storage of silt in lakes, wetlands, drainage |
| Soil formation | Soil formation process | Weathering of rock and accumulation of organic material |
| Nutrient cycling | Storage, internal cycling, processing and acquisition of nutrients | Nitrogen fixation, nitrogen/phosphorus, etc. nutrient cycles |
| Waste treatment | Recovery of mobile nutrients and removal or breakdown of excess nutrients and compounds | Waste treatment, pollution control, detoxification |
| Habitat | Aquatic habitat for resident and transient populations | Nurseries, habitat for migratory species, regional habitats for locally harvested species, wintering grounds |
| Raw materials | Natural resource primary production | Lumber, fuels, fodder, crops, fisheries |
| Genetic resources | Sources of unique biological materials and products | Medicine, products for materials, science, genes for plant resistance and crop pests, ornamental species |
| Recreation | Provides opportunities for recreation | Ecotourism, sportfishing, swimming, boating, etc. |
| Cultural | Opportunities for non-commercial uses | Aesthetic, artistic, education, spiritual, scientific, aboriginal sites |
Adapted from The Value of Natural Capital in Settled Areas of Canada by N. Olewiler.