Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity in Local and Regional Policy and Management

Human well-being is dependent upon 'ecosystem services' provided by nature for free such as water and air purification fisheries timber and nutrient cycling. The world's poor are most at risk from the continuing loss of biodiversity and ecosystems as they are the ones that are most reliant on the ecosystem services that are being degraded. It is against this background that the TEEB (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity) project was set up in 2007 and led by the United Nations Environment Programme to provide a comprehensive global assessment of these issues. This volume represents the key output providing a detailed review of the fundamental ecological and economic principles of valuing ecosystem services and biodiversity.