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16
IntRoDuCtIon:
LInkIng PeoPLe
WIth theIR PLAnet
Plants, animals and microorganisms
form complex, interconnected
webs of ecosystems 1 and habitats,
which in turn supply the ecosystem
services upon which all human life
depends (Box 1).
These underlying components of ecosystems can
be regarded as natural capital: everything from coral reefs to forests
and wetlands that produces goods and services consumed by humans
and helps to regulate the global environment (Hawken, Lovins, and
Lovins 2010).
Box 1. Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the benefits that people obtain from
ecosystems, including:
• Provisioning services. Goods obtained directly from
ecosystems (e.g., food, medicine, timber, fiber, biofuel);
• Regulating services. Benefits obtained from the regulation
of natural processes (e.g., water filtration, waste
decomposition, climate regulation, crop pollination,
regulation of some human diseases);
• Supporting services. Regulation of basic ecological functions
and processes that are necessary for all other ecosystem
services (e.g., nutrient cycling, photosynthesis, soil formation);
• Cultural services. Psychological and emotional benefits
gained from human relations with ecosystems (e.g., enriching
recreational, aesthetic, and spiritual experiences).
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005a)
All humans use ecosystem services and consume natural resources.
However if the rate of consumption exceeds the rate at which natural
systems can regenerate, natural capital is depleted. This means that
the ecosystem services essential for economic development will
also decrease, affecting people who directly rely on these resources,
and potentially reducing a nation’s income from exports and
harming a nation’s economic growth.
1 An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals and smaller organisms that live, feed, reproduce
and interact in the same area or environment.