Our economies, livelihoods and well-being all depend on our most precious asset: Nature

We are part of Nature, not separate from it.

We rely on Nature to provide us with food, water and shelter; regulate our climate and disease; maintain nutrient cycles and oxygen production; and provide us with spiritual fulfilment and opportunities for recreation and recuperation, which can enhance our health and well-being. We also use the planet as a sink for our waste products, such as carbon dioxide, plastics and other forms of waste, including pollution.

Nature is therefore an asset, just as produced capital (roads, buildings and factories) and human capital (health, knowledge and skills) are assets. Like education and health, however, Nature is more than an economic good: many value its very existence and recognise its intrinsic worth too.
Biodiversity enables Nature to be productive, resilient and adaptable. Just as diversity within a portfolio of financial assets reduces risk and uncertainty, so diversity within a portfolio of natural assets increases Nature’s resilience to shocks, reducing the risks to Nature’s services.

𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫.
𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘪𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘢𝘴𝘨𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, 𝘍𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘺 2021.

Sources:

1. Conservation Biology, 1992, Chapter 8 Larry D. Harris and Gilberto Silva-Lopez
2. The Routledge Handbook of Urbanization and Global Environmental Change, 2016, Chapter 10 Thomas Elmqist, Wayne C. Zipperer and Burak Güneralp
3. Determinants of land degradation and fragmentation in semiarid vegetation at landscape scale, Yolanda Pueyo, Concepción L. Alados and Olivia Barrantes
4. Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems, Sciences Advances, March 2015, 24 authors including Nick Haddad, Andrew Gonzalez, Lars Brudvig