Report values healthy oceans at $US21 trillion
27 May 2008
Bonn, May 26, 2008: Oceans offer a vast bounty to humanity in terms of food, climate and coastal protection, medicine and new technologies but these assets are at risk due to very low levels of protection and over-exploitation, a new WWF-Germany study has found.
WWF is urging the 190 Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, now meeting in Bonn, Germany, to conserve the wealth of our oceans.
"Countries have committed themselves to establishing networks of Marine Protected Areas by 2012 under the Convention on Biological Diversity, but only 0.5 per cent of the oceans are currently protected, which is a poor start towards that very essential goal," said Christian Neumann, Conservation Officer for WWF's Centre for Marine Conservation and co-author of the study.
The value of our oceans shows the economic value of a wide range of goods and services from the oceans. Scientists have put their overall value at some $US21 trillion annually, a dramatic contrast with the 0.5 per cent of ocean area currently covered by marine protected areas.
"Not only do we have the moral obligation to secure the biological diversity of the seas but mankind is also dependent on intact marine ecosystems," said Neumann. "They are a cornerstone of our economic well-being. Protecting them is much cheaper than losing them."
The wealth of the seas is particularly apparent in medicine, as many new compounds from pharmaceutical research activities originate from the oceans. Sponges and other invertebrates have emerged as a particularly fruitful source of new antibiotics and pharmaceutically active substances to fight cancer and Alzheimer's. Hotspot areas of high biodiversity are valued at US$6000 per hectare for medicinal aspects alone.
"We just don't know what potential is lying in the seas, waiting to be discovered by medicine and technology. The economic value is enormous, while very difficult to assess. At the same time, we're at risk of losing numerous species before we have the chance to unveil their potential," Neumann said.
The first-sale value of global fisheries was estimated at $US85 billion in 2004, supporting some 40 million workers.
"If we continue overfishing at current levels, fish stocks will collapse by the middle of the century and that means millions of jobs will be lost," Neumann said.
Coastal protection from tsunamis and other natural disasters is among the most important benefits of a healthy marine ecosystem, of which intact protected coral reefs contribute a significant proportion. This service has been valued at $US9 billion each year.
The oceans are also carbon sinks and therefore contribute to stabilising the planet's climate. Without the oceans' biological activity, the carbon concentration in the atmosphere would be 50 per cent higher. This service is valued at between $US0.66 trillion to $US13.5 trillion per annum.
The report shows it makes much better economic sense to protect the seas than to destroy them. In Bunaken National Park in Sulawesi, Indonesia, for example, employees in the parks' important tourism sector earn $US144 a month compared to fishermen on only US$44 a month.
In addition, a comparison of 18 case studies in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans shows that turtle watching generated three times more income than a consumptive use of the animals.
For more information:
Christian Neumann, Marine Conservation Officer
WWF International Centre for Marine Conservation, Hamburg, Germany
Tel. +49 162-2914469
Ralph Kampwirth, Press Officer WWF Germany
Tel. +49 162-2914473
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The Value of our Oceans: The Economic Benefits of Marine Biodiversity and Healthy Ecosystems was released at 11am on 26 May 2008 at the 9th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, Germany.
The Value of our Oceans: The Economic Benefits of Marine Biodiversity and Healthy Ecosystems
With this report we want to take an economic angle in shedding light on the values we receive from the oceans and the life therein, but which we usually take for granted. The marine environment, its habitats and species have shaped and are still shaping our world, our culture and many people’s daily lives. We want to show what the loss of healthy oceans will mean to our economies and individual people’s incomes and livelihoods. We want to show what we loose if we don’t change.
