On valuation

A sustainability consultant suggests that the value of Canada's boreal forests for environmental and tourist purposes may be in the range of $93 billion per year...and that it might be a good idea to take that value into account when determining how forests are to be managed:

The environmental work of Canada's boreal forests in purifying air and water and the tourism dollars they generate are worth at least $93 billion a year, says an economist.

That value should be taken into account when making decisions about logging, mining and other industrial activity that affects forests, Mark Anielski will urge delegates at the National Forest Congress opening in Lac Leamy, Que., on Monday. ..

Boreal forests regulate the climate by capturing and storing an estimated 67 billion tonnes of carbon in Canada alone - a job worth $1.8 billion, based on the price of carbon emissions from the global insurance industry.

The water filtration and erosion control function of boreal peatlands is worth $77 billion, and forests also generate billions in tourist spending...

"As an economist, I know that what we measure we pay attention to," he said. "The point of all this is these other assets we don't value, and therefore we don't pay attention to them in general. At the very least, accounting is about taking inventory and knowing what you've got."

Of course, it's difficult to set a precise number on the value of natural resources, particularly as new uses and ecological functions of different resources are discovered with time. But Anielski's starting point should highlight the fact that eliminating forest resources is far from a zero-cost action. And any attempt to debate the actual value of Canada's forests (along with other elements of our natural environment) can only help to call attention to benefits which may currently be taken for granted.

(Edit: corrected first sentence.)