To make better informed decisions about trade-offs involved in land use change, or any activity affecting ecosystems and biodiversity, we need better information about the full importance of ecosystems to our wellbeing. In addition to intrinsic/ethical and other non-monetary values, economic considerations still dominate cost-benefit analysis.
To provide information on the economic benefits of ecosystems and biodiversity, and on the costs of their loss, a database was developed for the TEEB study, published in 2010.
We are now updating this database which now contains over 600 studies and more than 4000 value records distributed across all biomes, services and geographic regions (3x as much as the original TEEB database). We are currently setting up a review-process to double-check the current data, and welcome new studies for our repository.
Are you interested in developing the ESVD? Find more information on how you can contribute in the full invitation letter:
Invitation letter to review the ESVD