Ecosystems under Pressure - linking ecosystem services, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

Publication review

Ecosystems are fundamental for human well-being and provide crucial services and options for communities to buffer the impacts of environmental disturbances, extreme events and change.

For example, storm surges and extreme waves can generally be moderated (though not entirely prevented) by healthy coastal ecosystems, such as salt marshes, coral reefs and mangrove forests.

Wetlands provide a number of important ecosystem services, and have the ability to buffer droughts and floods. Coral reefs underpin local shore protection, fisheries and tourism, and are a vital source of food and income in many regions of the developing world.

Ecosystem services are environmental functions that benefit humans through water and air purification, flood and erosion control, generation of fertile soils, detoxification of wastes, regulation of climate, and pollination. They also provide aesthetic and cultural benefits. The contributions of ecosystem services to national economies are substantial, yet are generally ignored or underestimated by decision-makers.

The costs associated with loss of ecosystem services tend to be considerable. The cost of mangrove destruction in Pakistan, for example, is estimated at around USD 20 million in fishing losses, USD 500,000 in timber losses, and USD 1.5 million in feed and pasture losses. The cost of the Newfoundland cod-fisheries collapse has been estimated at USD 2 billion and tens of thousands of jobs.