What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?
– By Lisa Rutherford –
Reading a book titled “What Has Nature Ever Done for Us?” has inspired my thinking on many levels about nature, its benefits, and how we treat nature. Many of us look out the window and see the trees, flowers, dirt, birds, insects, but do we think about the benefits we receive from these and other aspects of what surrounds us? I’ll bet most do not. Yet, the benefits are many. Our lives would be very different if the “biosphere” we live in was not as diverse as it is. Therein is the problem. Our biosphere is under threat not only from climate change but also from how we manage our lives and how others manage important aspects of our lives. While nature gives us so much, we continue to take, take, take.
Let’s start at the ground level. Of course, there’s dirt, and then there is soil. Soil is full of nutrients, minerals, microorganisms, and other essential elements that make it useful for growing food and many plants. Does that mean that our southern Utah “dirt,” which has few of these essential elements, is without importance? Does it mean that we can abuse it, build over it and run our off-road vehicles on it with abandon? Our dirt is not without merit. It does, after all, support much life in our dry, desert area. Even without the nutrients and such that would allow food to grow, our “dirt” supports much desert vegetation that supports many animals and birds. And, if the dirt is amended, voila, it becomes useful soil that supports our food needs.
But soil can be degraded as has been done on one-third of the farmed soil worldwide since the mid-twentieth century due to abusive farming practices. 5.5 billion additional tons of carbon could be captured each year if soil management practices were changed. As is our human tendency to get the most of anything we can, we industrialized farming – have abused much of our soil through over-fertilizing and overproducing, leaving soil that is just plain tired and often no longer useful. Our voracious appetites force food producers to keep up with the insatiable demand, working feverishly with additional fertilizers that drain into waterways and pesticides that harm animals such as bees and actually hurt the soils. Even worse, much of the food produced with the help of nature-harming fertilizers and pesticides is wasted. The U.S. wastes more food than any other country. Nearly 40 million tons or 80 billion pounds are discarded every year! That’s estimated to be 30-40 percent of the entire U.S. food supply. We are hurting nature and ourselves.
Nature’s benefits are many. Nature has provided us with many drugs from plants that help manage ailments but cannot be synthesized. There are possible cures for illnesses just waiting to be discovered. But with the number of species facing extinction or already extinct, what potential cures might be leaving with them? Yes, there have been mass extinctions during the history of the world, but it’s believed that the rate of loss now is greater than any time in the history of Earth and that within the next thirty years, perhaps half of Earth’s species will be gone. Those who try to save critical habitats are often dismissed or ridiculed, but perhaps they’re not just saving an at-risk species. Perhaps they’re saving humanity.
The U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health points out that during the last thirty years, up to 50% of approved drugs are from natural products either directly or indirectly. So, what effects will our destructive behaviors have over the next thirty years? Will our lack of concern for and degradation of our biosphere result in less life-saving products?
In the past, no economic value has been assigned to natural areas, the biodiversity they support, and benefits provided. The only value placed on them was the potential profit from their development. The filtering of water via wetlands, preventing erosions and flooding by forests – not to mention carbon sequestration – and pollinating crops by bees are just a few examples of “free services” provided by nature. Nature sends us no bill as would be done if a company provided those services. We have taken advantage of these “public goods” for so long that now when we are not in a situation of plenty anymore, we must consider their real value. Water is becoming less available in many places, deforestation is occurring at an alarming rate, and bees are at risk, to name a few challenges.
An interview by Yale Environment 360 with banker Pavan Sukhdev points to the heart of the problem: “As a society, we just got so entranced by this idea that value means market value. And we can’t seem to get over the fact that there’s a lot that’s valuable which doesn’t have a price. I hate the term ‘putting a price on nature’ because there’s more than that. It’s more about valuing nature.”
But in a society that makes decisions based on economics, perhaps a value must be placed on nature that can provide some comparison. Some have done this, but others feel that painting what may be seen as a one-sided ‘economic’ picture when it comes to nature can be dangerous. Many of us have been fighting to protect nature for its own sake — its intrinsic value — but the forces that demand an economic benefit are strong.
Researchers have set the cost of conserving global biodiversity at around $76 billion a year. They point out that the cost is a fraction of the value of nature’s services, and although the number is high, it is quite trivial in terms of government budgets. And, the cost is dwarfed by the benefits we get from nature.
There is a growing realization that nature is essential for economic growth.
The value of nature is seen in the benefits it provides for our psychological and physical health. “Nature-Deficit Disorder” has been identified as ‘the loss of connection of humans to their natural environment.’ Our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being improves when we are in touch with nature. In 2019 spending on mental health treatment and services reached $225 billion in the U.S. — up 52% from 2009. This doesn’t take into account indirect costs such as losses in workforce productivity.
To quote Frank Lloyd Wright, “Study Nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.” I would add to that, “If you treat it right!” So, the next time you step on dirt, consider what you might be stepping on. The next time you over water, consider what that water means in the bigger scheme of things. When you dismiss protecting our natural environment, consider that you may be risking your own well-being and the well-being of those you love.
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