皇冠体育app

皇冠体育app reports estimate the wildlife covered by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is worth approximately 拢1.5 billion per year to the UK.

Environment Minister Lord Henley said:

鈥淥ur wildlife is vital to our health, wealth and happiness and not simply window-dressing, but for too long we鈥檝e taken it for granted.

鈥溁使谔逵齛pp truth is so different - our natural environment is essential to achieve long-term sustainable economic growth and we must all know it鈥檚 true value if we are to protect it properly.鈥�

皇冠体育app two reports - 鈥樆使谔逵齛pp Benefits of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in England and Wales鈥� and 鈥楨conomic valuation of the benefits of ecosystem services delivered by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan鈥� - examined a variety of ways through which people benefit from efforts to protect wildlife and habitats in a number of ways.

• How we consume what are called 鈥榩rovisioning services鈥�, such as food, timber and fresh water - for example, the Lower Usk River provides a source of fresh water for local communities as well as migration corridors for fish species including the valuable Atlantic salmon.
• How people appreciate and enjoy the cultural benefits provided by biodiversity, such as tourism, education, recreation and general enjoyment of the outdoors. 聽皇冠体育app Ashdown Forest, the 鈥榬eal鈥� Hundred Acre Wood that was home to Winnie the Pooh, is just one area open for public enjoyment and attracts three-quarters of a million visitors a year.
• How nature supports 鈥榬egulating services鈥�, such as water purification, flood alleviation, regulating the climate, maintaining air quality and storing carbon dioxide, which save taxpayers and businesses聽money that would otherwise have to be spent creating these services artificially.聽 皇冠体育app lowland bog in Dyfi is helping us understand the effect of natural landscapes and their management on carbon sequestration, and the Ynyslas spit, together with the Aberdyfi dunes, provide an important sea defence function.

Martin Harper, RSPB conservation director, said:

鈥溁使谔逵齛ppse reports highlight how, if properly managed, the most important places for wildlife in the UK deliver a range of additional benefits from clean air and water to flood defence, carbon storage and recreation.

鈥溁使谔逵齛ppy reveal that the public is clearly willing to pay for these benefits, and that money spent on protecting nature is money well spent.聽 Every 拢1 spent on maintaining Sites of Special Scientific Interest delivers benefits to society worth more than 拢8.

鈥淭his complements the recently published National Ecosystem Assessment which demonstrated why investing in nature repays us many times over and why looking after the environment is not only important for wildlife, it is also key to the long term聽 health of our economy.

鈥溁使谔逵齛ppre is a timely reminder here that, even in an age of austerity, any reduction in effort and investment in our SSSIs would be a false economy.鈥�

皇冠体育app surveys improve understanding of how members of the public value biodiversity and establish the 鈥榳illingness to pay鈥� for different biodiversity features.聽 Ecological experts were interviewed to help identify the ecosystem benefits that biodiversity provides.

皇冠体育app work also improves understanding of the wider value of nature and how to better protect the benefits it provides, helping to protect against any decline in species, ecosystems and habitats.

皇冠体育app reports published today follow the National Ecosystem Assessment and support the recently published Natural Environment White Paper and England Biodiversity Strategy.

Notes:

皇冠体育app reports can be found at:

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皇冠体育app Natural Environment White Paper can be found at: .

皇冠体育app England Biodiversity Strategy can be found at: .

皇冠体育app National Ecosystem Assessment can be found at: .