The establishment of “greenbelts” around Canadian cities helps protect ecosystem services.
Natural capital is a way of looking at nature from an economic perspective. While Canadians recognize the importance of the environment to their well-being, the services that nature provides for free are often not accounted for.
We evaluate and describe the benefits that nature provides for free, and calculate the economic cost of these services if we had to provide them ourselves. These services are called natural capital or ecosystem services.
For example, trees clean our air and forests and wetlands filter our water. Green urban spaces absorb carbon, cool our cities and protect us from storms. It would be expensive to develop and build facilities to replace these ecosystem services.
We are working to help decision makers understand natural capital in the Lower Mainland of BC. When they know how their actions may impact the services nature provides, they will make better-informed decisions and choose policies that protect and restore our natural capital.
Sign up for our newsletter
Natural capital in BC's Lower Mainland
In October 2010, we released the first ever evaluation of natural capital BC's Lower Mainland region. This area stretches from Squamish to Hope, and includes the City of Vancouver.
Our report examines the extent of natural capital in the region, like forests, fields, wetlands and waterways, and estimates the non-market economic value these ecosystems provide. Our findings will inform future discussions about how to protect and restore the region's ecosystem services.
Evaluation of natural capital throughout Canada
The establishment of "greenbelts" around cities helps protect ecosystem services. These areas include protected farmland, forests, watersheds, wetlands, and other green spaces. In Ontario, our research conservatively estimated that the benefits provided by southern Ontario's greenbelt are valued at $2.6 billion annually. Another study estimated the value of the ecosystem goods and services provided by the adjacent Lake Simcoe watershed almost $1 billion per year.
Other recent Canadian natural capital valuations include an evaluation of the northern Boreal forest and Ontario's Credit Valley watershed (PDF). Another 2008 study provided an economic study of forests in British Columbia inhabited by the endangered spotted owl.
Global perspectives on natural capital
Recognition of ecosystem services is emerging on a global scale.
The United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment concluded that about 60 per cent of the world's ecosystem services are used at an unsustainable rate. Most recently, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity released the largest ever global study on natural capital that concludes nature provides trillions of dollars in ecosystem services each year.
