What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?: How Money Really Does Grow On Trees

Description

From Indian vultures to Chinese bees, nature provides 'natural services', 24/7. Recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries and much more. It's been estimated that these are worth an annual $50 trillion to the world economy - not far short of the global GDP of $63 trillion. Yet we take most of nature's services for granted, imagining them free and limitless . until they suddenly switch off. This is a book full of immediate, impactful stories, containing both warnings (such as in the tale of India's vultures, killed off by drugs given to cattle, leading to an epidemic of rabies) but also the positive (how birds protect the Dutch apple harvest, or the Amazon rainforests evaporate 20 billion tonnes of water each day). Tony Juniper's book will change the whole way you think about life, the planet and the economy.

Tony Juniper is Britain's best known environmental campaigner. He is a former director of Friends of the Earth, where he led the 'Big Ask' campaign which led to the 2008 Climate Change Act. He is the author of several books, including the companion volume to the BBC series Saving Planet Earth (2007 and Spix's Macaw: the race to save the world's rarest bird (2002).

Praise for Tony Juniper: 'He is by popular consent the most effective of Britain's eco-warriors * Independent * One of the top ten environmental figures of the last thirty years -- The ENDS Report [Tony Juniper] is among the 100 people who are making the decisions that affect your life * Country Life * A brilliant resume of Nature's New Deal: nurture me and I'll nurture you. * Nick Crane * What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? is a brilliant resume of nature(1)s new deal: nurture me and I'll nurture you. -- Nick Crane, author and TV presenter Juniper explains how the welfare of the human species rests on the assets and services provided by the rest of nature, and makes the case for natural capital to be integral in a new economy fit for the future. -- Michael Clarke, Chief Executive, RSPB Tony Juniper takes us on a highly readable, personal journey of discovery of nature and our reliance upon it. What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? provides the stories and the numbers to convince others that investing in nature(1)s balance sheet is good for the corporate balance sheet. -- Jose Lopez, Nestle This book should be on the essential reading list at schools. Without understanding the essence of life - and this is a fantastically modern romp through it - how can our children be expected to make the right decisions? If we ever needed a book to remind us that we are part of nature, not separate from it, this is it. -- Stephanie Hilborne OBE, Chief Executive, The Wildlife Trusts Science Books of the Year ... A readable, timely vision -- Robin McKie * Observer *