State of the Rainforest 2014

How much is it worth? Biodiversity in the world’s tropical forests provides services of huge economic value, but is difficult to measure. Many estimates have been made, however, and the value amounts to trillions of dollars. 42 What is even more difficult to express in monetary terms is how biodiversity contributes to ecosystem resilience – or the ability to continue providing services under changing environmental conditions – as natural insurance against shocks. 43 As rainforests are destroyed, the values and services they provide are threatened. The sustainability of nearly two-thirds of our planet’s supply of ecosystem services may be in jeopardy. 44 This directly affects poor people today, and further degradation will make it harder to achieve development goals in the future. 45

for the spread of disease. In fact, research has shown the opposite. Biodiversity loss causes the loss of an important ecosystem service: buffering the spread of infectious diseases to humans, animals and plants. The decline of biodiversity may lead to the more rapid emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases. 40 The positive linkages between biodiversity and health are well documented, and the examples are many. In the Peruvian Amazon, mosquitoes associated with malaria were observed to bite people 278 times more frequently in deforested areas than in areas still predominantly forested. In Indonesia, communities living near Ruteng Park have fewer cases of malaria and dysentery, fewer school days missed due to illness, and less hunger associated with crop failure than similar communities without intact forests nearby. 41

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STATE OF THE RAINFOREST 2014