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There is a growing movement to assess the value–in dollar terms–of “ecosystem services” such as storm protection (from salt marshes), pollination of crops (from bee colonies and insects), natural predation of harmful insects and parasites (by birds, bats and other animals), fertilizer from animal feces, fish in the oceans, clean water and air, and cooling/greenhouse gas-controlling forests, etc.

This movement has been gaining steam–especially with the recent loss of 40% of U.S. bee colonies by a mysterious virus (causing billions of dollars in lost crops), and the devastation wrought by hurricane Katrina (largely due to the human destruction of natural buffers like salt marshes and sand bars).

Earlier this year, in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, Peter Kareiva et al, published a call for renewed efforts to put a dollar figure on the value of nature’s services. Putting a price on such services (defined as any function of the natural world that we benefit from) is extremely tricky and difficult, but not putting any price at all on these services, in the view of the authors, seems a serious mistake.

Kareiva, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, elaborated on this idea: “In this world, cost benefit analysis and dollars are how decisions get made…When nature and the benefits that nature [provides] are not converted to dollars then it can’t be on the table for those discussions and, in a way, nature’s not getting credit for what it’s doing.” (quoted from a February, 5, 2009 podcast report by David Biello for Scientific American)

The time has come to credit Nature for what it does for us. Not to do so, the authors argue, is to devalue Nature, and thus to encourage our collective ignorance and misuse/abuse of its services.

photo credit: Jon Sullivan, public domain

This could not have come at a more appropriate time. Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest international cricketer to have ever walked the face of the earth dedicated his most recent Test century at Hamilton, to the tiger. Tiger conservation to be precise. He was later also quoted stating that the entire Indian cricket team supported the cause of the critically endangered species, whose numbers have been dropping alarmingly in the wild. Further in his message, Tendulkar said, “This majestic species is a symbol of India’s rich and diverse wildlife heritage. It is in our best interests to ensure that this magnificent animal is not wiped out.

The tiger population in India has dropped by another 17 since January 1st this year and poaching, poisoning, old age and infighting are the reasons cited by the officials. And even as laws are being tightened after each confiscation of tiger body parts, the massive demand of a market in China ensures tigers are valued more dead than alive and that poachers continue to be active. The message by Sachin is being seen as a shot in the arm for tiger conservation something that will be verified over time.

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In one of his first moves upon taking office, President Obama has ordered a freeze on all new or pending regulations from the Bush administration. The bold action could delay, and possibly even prevent, the removal of gray wolves from endangered species lists in more than a dozen states.

In a memorandum released by Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Obama has informed all department and agency heads that “…no proposed or final regulation should be sent to the Office of Federal Register for publication unless and until it has been reviewed and approved by a department or agency head appointed or designated by the President after noon on January 20, 2009.”

According to Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, the hiatus will give President Obama and new Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar the chance to reconsider the Bush administration’s plans to remove wolves from the endangered species list.

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The Brazilian government has today signed a federal decree establishing the Brazilian Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary, which will drastically increase protection for all cetacean species along the country’s entire 5,000 mile long coast.

According to José Truda Palazzo, Jr., Brazilian Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, “the initiative sends a clear and powerful message to the international community in relation to Brazil’s commitment towards whale conservation, and also reinforces our campaign for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary to be established in the entire oceanic basin.”

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Endangered US animal and plant species are in danger of losing vital legal protection designed to prevent them from extinction.

The outgoing Bush administration is proposing to rush through legislation that will remove the right of government experts to ensure that dams, highways and other big infrastructure projects don’t pose an unacceptable threat to fragile plants and animals under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Crucially, the regulations must be approved by Friday if they are to come into effect before President-elect Obama’s swearing-in ceremony on January 20th.

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The proposed monuments – loosely termed; as far as I can tell there will be no massive brass or bronze statues anywhere – are the Central Pacific Islands and areas around the Northern Mariana Islands.

One of the monuments, the Central Pacific Islands, would equate to a size four and a half times all the US National Parks, and measure in at close to the size of Alaska. The area would include eight islands and coral reef atolls in the Line Islands and American Samoa, and their surrounding waters.

The second area would cover parts of the Northern Mariana Islands, located in the Western Pacific, including the area that is known as the Mariana Trench, the deepest yet recorded part of our planet’s oceans.

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Did you know that 2008 is the 100th anniversary of that wonderful children’s book, ‘Wind in the Willows’?

For those of you who recollect the classic story you will remember characters such as Mr. Toad of Toad Hall, Mr. Badger, Mole and also ‘Ratty’ who was actually a European Water Vole.

In addition to 2008 being the anniversary of the book, it is also the year that the Water Vole has been finally provided full legal protection. Six years after a change in the law was first recommended, ‘Ratty’ is finally to receive full protection from the law, under new proposals announced by the UK Deparment for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

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Often it is hard to understand just what a trading scheme is all about, but I finally found it explained simply and clearly. The AFP wrote; ‘Emissions trading schemes place a limit on the amount of greenhouse gas pollution which companies can produce, forcing heavy polluters to buy credits from companies that pollute less — thereby creating financial incentives to fight global warming.’

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