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[MAY FREE REPORT] Ecosystem Services |
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by Godfred Owusu | 25-05-2023 08:56
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Wildlife is important to the heritage, culture and we want to preserve it as legacy for our children. There are several concrete advantages to living in a World with robust and healthy ecosystem even though it is impossible to place a price on all the ways the natural World enriches our lives. Because of wildlife and ecosystem, our economy is stronger, there are more food options available, and medical research has advanced.
All these benefits human derived from ecosystem has been recognize as ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are defined as the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well-being, and have an impact on our survival and quality of life. In 1997, Constanza et al estimated that ecosystems provided on average US$38 trillion per year in services, compared to the Global GNP at the time being $18 trillion per year. However, more recent estimated in 2011 suggest that ecosystems actually provide the equivalent of $125 trillion in services per year. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, a major UN sponsored effort to analyze the impact of human actions on ecosystems and human well-being, identified four major categories of ecosystem services. These are: Provisioning services: are characterised by the ability of humans to obtain product from ecosystems, such as food, water and resources, including wood, oil and genetic resources and medicines. Regulatory services: are benefit obtained from natural processes and functioning of ecosystems. Example include flood regulation climate regulation and other natural hazard regulation, pollination, water purification and more. Cultural services: are non material benefits that people can obtain from ecosystems. These include spiritual enrichment, intellectual development, recreation and aestetic values. These types of services can be hard to monitor and value compared to regulatory and provisioning services, but research in this area is growing. Example; studies have shown that an ability to see or interact with nature, through hospital windows or hospital gardens respectively, increases the speed of patient recovery. Supporting services: Finally, supporting services are those who relate to habitats functioning themselves, and therefore influence survival. For example photosynthesis, the water cycle and natural cycles are are the basis of ecosystems, which in turn allow us to support ourselves. This type of ecosystem services also goes down to the genetic level, such as the maintenance of viable species gene prols. Ecosystem services is so important because: The loss, therefore, of ecosystem services is not just an environmental issue, but an economic and social issue as it not only affect the environment, but the Economy and individual well being. However the holistic nature of ecosystem services and their interactive behavior means that common anthropogenic pressure often affect more than one service. However, habitat destruction, pollination and invasive species are among the most prolific threats to ecosystem services. In conclusion, ecosystem play a vital role in in our daily lives, therefore there is a need for us to conserve them for current and future generation as an ambassador or a member of Tunza Eco-generation Sources: What are ecosystems by Reagan Pearce https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Understanding-Conservation/Ecosystem-Services#:~:text=An%20ecosystem%20service%20is%20any,or%20indirect%E2%80%94small%20or%20large
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Former E-gen Ambassador
Godfred Owusu
Previous : “[May Theme Report] Eco-Frien...
3 Comments
Hello Godfred!! This is your mentor James.
First of all, sorry for the late comment!
I can see that you've discussed about the benefits about promoting and conserving the ecosystem around us. Among those, I really think that regulatory function would be one of the most significant factors. Proper regulation and circulation of water, carbon, and even nitrogen in the environment is enabled based on the level of ecosystem preservation! Thus, the importance of ecosystem should definitely be emphasized in the media and our society.
Thanks for writing such a meaningful report! Great work.
Posted 22-06-2023 14:56
Thank you for your encouragement@Mentor Yewon
Posted 31-05-2023 18:56
Hello Godfred! This is your mentor Yewon.
You have written an outstanding report about ecosystem services for May free report!
I didn't know that ecosystem services were divided into four categories, which are provisioning services, regulatory services, cultural services, and supporting services.
Your report was so informative and interesting!
Thank you for the hard work. Great job!!
Posted 31-05-2023 02:53