VALUING ECOSYSTEMS How can you put a value on a ecosystem?

Provisioning Services These are the products obtained from ecosystems, including things like food, fuel, fresh water medicines etc. Regulating Services These are the benefits obtained from the regulation of ecosystems processes, e.g. air quality, climate, water etc. Cultural services These are the non-material benefits that people obtain from ecosystems e.g. knowledge, recreation, ecotourism, cultural heritage, spiritual and religious values Supporting Services Service that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. Their impacts on people are indirect, or occur over a very long time. They include soil formation, photosynthesis, nutrient cycling etc. Ecosystem Services Ecosystem Services are the benefits that people get from ecosystems. They can be classified into 4 groups.

The Daintree and Ecosystem Services  Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give out oxygen, thus removing greenhouse gases from the air. The carbon dioxide is stored as biomass to help regulate the climate and reduce pollution Carbon Sequestration

The Daintree and Ecosystem Services  25% of drugs include products that come from rainforests. TRF have provided chemicals used to treat diabetes, malaria, heart conditions, rheumatism and arthritis. In the Daintree plants have been identified as having anti-cancer properties Medicine

The Daintree and Ecosystem Services  The Daintree attracts nearly half a million visitors a year. Visitors come for the scenery- coast, forest and mountains- the biodiversity and to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Tourism The Skyrail takes tourists from nearby Cairns into the Daintree Rainforest Daintree, Eco-Lodge

The Daintree and Ecosystem Services  Rainforest aboriginal people are the original owners of Wet Tropical rainforests. To them, the rainforest is a series of complex ‘living’ cultural landscapes. This means that the natural features of the rainforest are interwoven with people’s religion, spirituality, economic use (food and tools) and social and moral organisation. People of the Rainforest

The Daintree and Ecosystem Services  The commercial timber industry began in the Daintree in the 1930s. During the 1980s, the Daintree rainforest was at the centre of arguments between conservationists and the timber industry. The conservationists argued the logging was unsustainable. Logging

Task Working in groups you are going to list the services found in a given ecosystem. 1. Tundra 2. Mediterranean 3. Desert 4. Ocean Provisioning Services Regulating Services Cultural services Supporting Services Ecosystem Services

Read ‘The Value of Coral Reefs’ p in the greeny EDEXCEL book. Make notes paying particular attention to the numerical values applied. Visit- to get more info. Task