The world鈥檚 coral reefs save us $172 billion every year, but they鈥檙e because of political inertia, an ecological economist has told the global in Cape Town, South Africa.
The claim was made by Pavan Sukhdev, an economist based at United Nations Environment Programme鈥檚 in Cambridge, UK. Sukhdev is head of a European Commission study called , an international project to raise awareness about the economic benefits of biodiversity.
Previously, it had been estimated that by attracting tourists, protecting commercial fish species and protecting coasts from storm surges.
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To investigate the economic value of coral reefs further, Sukhdev and his colleagues reviewed 80 studies carried out between 1995 to 2009. Their work suggests that a single hectare of coral reef can be worth from $130,000 to $1.2聽million a year.
Pretty bleak
However, discussing the economic value of coral reefs is like fiddling while Rome burns, says Sukhdev. 鈥淭he entire ecosystem is on the point of collapse,鈥� he says. 鈥淯nless negotiators in Copenhagen [in Denmark, at the UN climate talks in December] agree to limit atmospheric carbon dioxide to 350聽parts per million, they will sentence the world鈥檚 coral reefs to death.鈥� Politicians are currently hoping to limit CO2 to 450聽parts per million, he says. 鈥淔rankly, it does look pretty bleak.鈥�
鈥淭he most cost-effective and easiest way to save our coral reefs is to reduce deforestation and boost reforestation,鈥� says Sukhdev. 鈥淚 hope that politicians going to Copenhagen give the proposals to cut deforestation put forward by REDD-Plus the attention they deserve.鈥� is a scheme supported by the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
Stephen Mangi, an environmental economist based at in the UK, says that it鈥檚 crucial that researchers start placing economic values on the ecosystem services they study.
鈥淚n terms of policy implications, I think it is crucial for science to link directly into policy, and the provision of monetary values is one way to achieve this,鈥� says Mangi. 鈥淢oney is universally understood by policy makers, economists, scientists and politicians, hence it would help policy makers make sensible and defendable decisions when weighing up alternative and competing management options for marine ecosystems.鈥�
If we do lose our coral reefs, we鈥檒l never be able to recreate the services they provide free of charge, says Sukhdev. 鈥淗ow could we afford to feed the 500聽million people who depend on coral reefs for the fish they eat?鈥� he asks. 鈥淎nd how do you recreate the joy of diving on a coral reef?鈥�
