Nature and Society
Ecosystem Services
The environmental services of ecosystems, or ecosystem services, generate benefits for society and can be identified, measured and evaluated.
Man-made consumer goods (especially synthetic goods) vary in size and function. These goods range from microchips to trucks. These goods are all around us and we see and use them all the time. Likewise, we rely on the services provided by man, such as electricity, water treatment and distribution, internet, among others.
Just as companies manufacture goods and services, so does nature. We are familiar with the goods produced by nature, such as food, water, fibers, among others. On the other hand, we are less familiar with the services that nature provides for us and for the entire ecosystem.
Some of the many services that support life provided by nature daily in the oceans, forests, wetlands (the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, for example), pastures, among others are:
- Natural water filtration
- climate regulation
- nutrient cycle
- Pollination
- Pest control
- disease regulation
- flood control
The environmental services of ecosystems, or ecosystem services, generate benefits for society and can be identified, measured and evaluated. These are benefits such as food and water production, carbon sequestration and storage, erosion and runoff control, biodiversity conservation, pollination, scenic beauty, disease control and a number of others.
Many of these ecosystem services affect and are affected by the production chains of “goods and services”, which would then be better defined as “environmental goods and services”. There is still no global consensus on the precise classification of all environmental goods and services, but there are already lists used to assess them and propose tariff mechanisms for commercial release. Exemption from import and export taxes on environmental goods and services in international trade is a trend.
In fact, all global production chains are seeking to analyze their impacts on ecosystem services, as a way of increasing the competitiveness of their economies in global markets.