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The value of nature: Economic, intrinsic, or both?
Citation:
Rea, A. AND W. Munns. The value of nature: Economic, intrinsic, or both? Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. Allen Press, Inc., Lawrence, KS, 13(5):953-955, (2017).
Impact/Purpose:
This article compliments one by Doorn entitled “Do ecosystems have ethical rights?” in which she recounts the history of philosophical and ethical thought concerning the value of ecosystems. She notes that anthropocentrists do not acknowledge the intrinsic value of nature. Here, we argue that changing our perspective of what leads to human well-being is more important than valuing ecosystems based solely on their monetary worth to people. We encourage a form of environmental pragmatism that reflects pluralism in how nature is valued.
Description:
There has been a long standing argument that ecosystems have intrinsic value and therefore there is no need to put a price tag on Mother Nature. The concept of intrinsic value reflects the perspective that nature has value in its own right, independent of human uses. Intrinsic value is viewed from an ecocentric or biocentric standpoint. Conversely, the economic concepts of use and non-use values are viewed from an anthropocentric perspective. Non-use values describe the worth, typically in monetary terms, that people ascribe to ecosystem services that they do not directly or indirectly use yet view as affecting their well-being. Yet intrinsic and economic valuation need not be mutually exclusive. The challenge is to develop scientifically rigorous approaches that include both intrinsic and economic value in the calculus of environmental decision making.
