Question

Do ecosystem services have both marketable and nonmarketable values? 5 marks

Answer 1

Ecosystems are community formed by the interaction between living and non living organism. Human beings are both part of ecosystems and benefit from ecosystems in many ways. The acquired benefits are known as ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contribution of ecosystems to human well-being. They support directly or indirectly our survival and quality of life. Climate regulation is one of the most important ecosystem services both globally and on zonal scale. Zonal ecosystems play a major role in climate regulations. Pest and disease are regulated in ecosystems through the action of predators and parasites as well as by the defence mechanism of their prey. Soil bio diversity e is major factor in soil formation which supports a range of provisioning services such as food fibre and fuel provision and is fundamental to soil fertility. A new classification of ecosystem services is under development at international level. The common international classification of ecosystem services tu to facilitate integration of ecosystem services in environmental accounting. Despite the best intentions there is a gap in planning the idea of the minds of development firms that conservation is everybody's business. Through their produce sustainability reports there is hardly the recognition that their bottom lines are development on the ecosystem services. Valuation of ecosystem services and natural capital assessment should be inculcate at the core of development firms.