Environmental Services

In 2003 a major study in Australia, focusing on the values and opportunities that come from the relationships between people and their natural environments – The Ecosystem Services Project – was completed. The study was initiated in response to concerns that the quality of these relationships is decreasing as ecosystems decline worldwide. This project conveys an understanding of the services and benefits that we receive from ecosystems. The project also addresses the problem of estimating the “value” of ecosystem services as some techniques do not deal well with goods and services that do not pass through markets, that are publicly rather than privately owned, or that are of importance to communities rather than individuals.