Ecological goods and services (EG&S) are the economical benefits (

goods and services Goods are items that are usually (but not always) tangible, such as pens, physical books, salt, apples, and hats. Services are activities provided by other people, who include architects, suppliers, contractors, technologists, teachers, doc ...

) arising from the

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

functions of

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syst ...

. Such benefits accrue to all

living organisms In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells (cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fun ...

, including animals and plants, rather than to humans alone. However, there is a growing recognition of the importance to society that ecological goods and services provide for health, social, cultural, and economic needs.

Introduction

Examples of ecological goods include

clean air Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...

, and abundant

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does incl ...

. Examples of ecological services include purification of air and water, maintenance of biodiversity, decomposition of wastes, soil and vegetation generation and renewal, pollination of crops and natural vegetation,

groundwater recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually occurs ...

through wetlands,

seed dispersal In Spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vector ...

greenhouse gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that absorbs and emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are water vapor (), carbon dioxide (), methane ...

mitigation, and aesthetically pleasing landscapes. The products and processes of ecological goods and services are complex and occur over long periods of time. They are a sub-category of

public goods In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good)Oakland, W. H. (1987). Theory of public goods. In Handbook of public economics (Vol. 2, pp. 485-535). Elsevier. is a good that is both non-excludable and non-riv ...

. The concern over ecological goods and services arises because we are losing them at an unsustainable rate, and therefore

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

managers must devise a host of tools to encourage the provision of more ecological goods and services. Rural and suburban settings are especially important, as lands that are developed and converted from their natural state lose their ecological functions. Therefore, ecological goods and services provided by privately held lands become increasingly important.

Markets

A market may be created wherein ecological goods and services are demanded by society and supplied by public and private landowners. Some believe that

public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land (Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countrie ...

s alone are not adequate to supply this market, and that privately held lands are needed to close this gap. What has emerged is the notion that rural landowners who provide ecological goods and services to society through good stewardship practices on their land should be duly compensated. The main tool to accomplish this to date has been to pay farmers directly to set-aside portions of their land that would otherwise be in production. This exemplifies a shift in thinking from the "polluter pays" to the "beneficiary pays". Financial incentives to landowners is one approach, but provision of EG&S can also be achieved through regulation, stewardship incentives under existing programs such Environmental Farm Plans, market-based instruments, and tax rebates.

Biodiversity and EGS

According to the

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a major assessment of the human impact on the environment, called for by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2000, launched in 2001 and published in 2005 with more than $14 million of g ...

project,

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

is a necessary underlying component of ecological goods and services. Biodiversity supports ecological goods and services such as

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also i ...

and genetic resources. However, biodiversity is also sometimes referred to as an actual ecological good or service which can be confusing.

Policy tools

The following policy tools can be used to ensure production of ecological goods and services: Agriculture, Pêcheries et Alimentation, Quebec. (2005). Remuneration for ecological goods and services produced by agriculture: Elements for a Quebec analysis. (in French) *Regulations *Cross compliance programs *Environmental marketing schemes (e.g. eco-labeling) *Voluntary participation programs *Market based approaches (e.g. offset credits{{Clarify, date=January 2012) *One time direct payments *Ongoing direct payments

References

External links