Abstract

On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.

Keywords

SummitHabitatHabitat destructionSustainable developmentNatural resource economicsNatural (archaeology)Environmental protectionEnvironmental resource managementGeographyEcologyEnvironmental scienceEconomicsBiologyPhysical geographyArchaeology

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Publication Info

Year
2002
Type
review
Volume
297
Issue
5583
Pages
950-953
Citations
1429
Access
Closed

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Andrew Balmford, Aaron Bruner, Phillip J. Cooper et al. (2002). Economic Reasons for Conserving Wild Nature. Science , 297 (5583) , 950-953. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1073947

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DOI
10.1126/science.1073947