Scientists at the CSIRO Ecosystem Services Project think about Nature's work a lot. In partnership with communities around Australia, they are studying ecosystem services in seven regions and aiming to build greater recognition of their value.
Much of the nation's economic prosperity comes from ecosystem services, but many natural ecosystems are under threat. And when ecosystems suffer, so do the benefits they provide. Because these services are mostly not recognised, they are largely ignored when decisions are being made about land use, putting our valuable natural assets at risk.
The technological alternatives to ecosystem services are either prohibitively expensive or simply do not exist. Try making a machine to generate an equable climate. Similarly, Australian farmers spend about $1.6 billion a year on agricultural chemicals, yet our research indicates that this figure could be cut dramatically by providing habitat on farms for unpaid predators and parasites of pests.
The project is asking:
- Who benefits from ecosystem services and what is the nature of the benefits?
- What are current land management practices doing to these services?
- What will happen to the services if we use land differently in the future?
- How can we ensure that ecosystem services are considered in land management policies and decision-making?
The project team expects their work will have far-reaching repercussions because ecosystem services operate in almost every aspect of our lives and just about everywhere environment - in forests, wetlands, farm paddocks, city parks and suburban gardens around the world. Nurturing ecosystem services will benefit individuals, farms, towns, cities, industries and the national economy.
Not all ecosystem services have a dollar value. Natural assets also have cultural and spiritual values. Healthy landscapes foster recreation, tourism and a sense of collective identity. Degraded ones diminish our sense of well-being. By being information you can make the right choice.
What are ecosystem services?
The billions of species on our planet, including humans, interact with one another in many ways. These interactions among and between species are what define ecosystems. Ecosystems in turn, provide many "services" from which humans benefit. Ecosystem services are the transformation of a set of natural assets (soil, plants and animals, air and water) into things that we value. If we look after and maintain our natural assets, we will benefit from greater returns.
Some examples of ecosystem services that come from nature include:
- provision of clean and pure water;
- maintenance of liveable climates and atmospheres;
- pollination of crops and native vegetation;
- maintenance of fertile soils;
- fulfillment of people's cultural, spiritual, intellectual needs; and
- provision of options for the future that we cannot foresee.
Ecosystem services are little understood, yet the important roles of these natural assets are not being recognised adequately in economic markets, government policies or land management practices. As a result, ecosystems and the services they provide are in decline.
Who is involved?
CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and The Myer Foundation initiated the Ecosystem Services Project. Collaborators include five CSIRO Divisions, Land and Water Australia, The Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority, The Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre, The Cotton Cooperative Research Centre, The University of New England and a range of community and government representatives.
For the full scope of the project visit the website www.ecosystemservicesproject.org
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