About 50 bees on their way to their hive, some of the insects hover right in front of the hive, many have already landed and are crawling into the entrance.

Ecosystem services Conserving biodiversity as a life-sustaining resource

Their biodiversity enables the Earth’s ecosystems to provide services that form the basis of human development and sustainable prosperity: species-rich ecosystems supply vital resources and ensure that we have fertile soils, clean drinking water and clean air. They play an important part in binding greenhouse gases and in adaptation to the consequences of climate change. Biodiversity drives human innovation in architecture, medicine and technology. It also provides space for leisure activities, inspires artistic endeavours and has spiritual meaning in many religions.

The many and varied “functions” of biodiversity that we utilise automatically every day are subsumed under the heading “ecosystem services”. Making them visible and highlighting their economic importance is the aim of the global initiative The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (External link) (TEEB). The initiative provides decision-makers with support in the form of scientific analyses that help them give greater consideration to ecosystem services. It was launched by Germany in collaboration with the EU Commission and is being managed by a number of different institutions under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Some examples of ecosystem services

Coral reefs cover only 1.2 per cent of the continental shelf but they provide a habitat for an estimated total of up to three million species, including a quarter of all species of marine fish. Millions of people on coasts and islands are entirely dependent on reef ecosystems for food and income.

Mangrove forests form a highly specialised tropical coastal ecosystem at the meeting point of land and sea. They perform key functions for the climate, biodiversity and food security while also providing many coastal dwellers with a source of food and income. In addition, mangrove forests form a natural barrier that provides protection from storm surges and tsunamis – and they store between three and five times more carbon than terrestrial forests.

Fruit trees and many other crops depend on pollination by insects or other animals. In 2016 the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimated the global value of these pollination services at between 235 and 577 billion US dollars per year. A study by Hohenheim University in 2020 put an even higher figure on the economic value of animal pollination, putting it at 3.8 billion euros per year in Germany and 1,000 billion US dollars (roughly 820 billion euros) globally.

Tree blossom in the Bekaa Plain in Lebanon

Urban biodiversity in the form of green spaces and “green infrastructure” has environmental benefits (better microclimate, better air and water quality, improved soil health, greater species diversity, brake on climate change), economic benefits (less energy usage, higher property values, lower costs of storms and floods) and social benefits (health and wellbeing). Through transpiration, a single tree can have the same cooling effect as up to ten standard air-conditioning appliances.

Two tuk-tuks meet on a tree-lined road in Bangladesh

In large parts of Africa considerably more than 50 per cent of the energy supply is derived from hydropower. Eight of Africa’s largest dams draw water from protected areas that provide the necessary quantity of water as an ecosystem service. In addition, the natural water filtration in the protected areas reduces the sediment burden in the reservoirs: this increases the life of the turbines and reduces the need for expensive maintenance work.

View of a reservoir with dam wall at King Valley Dam, Jordan

These examples illustrate the variety of ways in which humans benefit from healthy ecosystems and depend on them.

The majority of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) cannot be achieved unless the loss of biological diversity and the associated ecosystem services is halted. It is therefore incumbent upon policymakers to give greater consideration to ecosystem services and to promote the conservation of biodiversity across all sectors.

to the overview page on biodiversity