Executive summary: The author argues that many people place significant, enduring, and likely persistent value on “nature,” as shown by behavior, spending, and cultural history, though what exactly is being valued remains unclear.
Key points:
The author estimates that around 1% of the global adult population donates for nature and that large sums are spent globally, including $124B–$200B annually on biodiversity and hundreds of billions on ecotourism.
Many people engage with nature directly, including roughly 980 million nature tourists and tens of millions of repeat conservation donors.
Valuing nature appears historically widespread across cultures, including animism, nature-related religious traditions, and long-standing artistic focus on landscapes.
The author argues this value is enduring today, citing environmental protections, survey data showing majority support for environmental protection, and market signals like property premiums and nature-focused products.
Exposure to nature is associated with psychological benefits such as improved mental health, happiness, and altruism, suggesting some biological or experiential basis for its value.
Despite its apparent importance, “nature” and “biodiversity” are poorly defined and used inconsistently, and the author remains unsure why people value nature or whether current conservation approaches are justified.
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Executive summary: The author argues that many people place significant, enduring, and likely persistent value on “nature,” as shown by behavior, spending, and cultural history, though what exactly is being valued remains unclear.
Key points:
The author estimates that around 1% of the global adult population donates for nature and that large sums are spent globally, including $124B–$200B annually on biodiversity and hundreds of billions on ecotourism.
Many people engage with nature directly, including roughly 980 million nature tourists and tens of millions of repeat conservation donors.
Valuing nature appears historically widespread across cultures, including animism, nature-related religious traditions, and long-standing artistic focus on landscapes.
The author argues this value is enduring today, citing environmental protections, survey data showing majority support for environmental protection, and market signals like property premiums and nature-focused products.
Exposure to nature is associated with psychological benefits such as improved mental health, happiness, and altruism, suggesting some biological or experiential basis for its value.
Despite its apparent importance, “nature” and “biodiversity” are poorly defined and used inconsistently, and the author remains unsure why people value nature or whether current conservation approaches are justified.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.