Rescuing Ecosystems Can Save Trillions Of Dollars

World Environment News - Rescuing Ecosystems Can Save Trillions Of Dollars: U.N. - Planet Ark: "A few million dollars invested by governments in restoring nature could prevent far greater losses of the free services that ecosystems provide to people around the world, a U.N. report said on Thursday.

In the study released before World Environment Day on June 5, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said nations could boost their economies by replenishing dying forests, marshes, coral reefs and riverbanks.

'What are the real economic value of some of these resources? Wetlands, of which half have been destroyed, have an economic value of $7 trillion per year,' Tim Kasten, a UNEP natural resources expert, told reporters in Nairobi.

'All together these services are providing up to $70 trillion per year of economic benefit,' Kasten said."