How to manage 6 prevalent invasive species

  

Not all new species introduced to an area are invasive, but those that are can have a negative effect on the ecology and biological diversity of a region as the invasive species tend to outcompete and at times eradicate their native counterparts. Here are six notorious invasive species. These range from plants originating in China to fish weighing upwards of 50 pounds. We look at their origins, why they’re invasive and what we can do to contain or eradicate them. 

 

 
Alabama Bass (Photo: Creative Commons)

Alabama Bass

How did it get here? The Alabama (or Coosa) bass ( Micropterus henshalli) isn’t your typical invasive species in the sense that its origins aren’t too far away from where it’s currently thriving. The Alabama bass was recently classified as a unique species from the spotted bass ( Micropterus punctulatus ) and it made its way from the Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basin in Northwest Georgia and Alabama to adjacent river basins, such as the Mississippi. Anglers are likely responsible for most of this movement, whether intentionally or by accident. Some of the invasive species you’ll read about below come from all over the world, whereas the Alabama bass is closely linked to the spotted bass. So close, in fact, that the only sure fire way to tell the difference is to count the scales or do a genetic analysis.

Why is it considered invasive? Basically the Alabama bass is taking over the neighborhood by dominating the gene pool. Through active mating and genetic swamping, the Alabama bass is eradicating some native species. At the current rate of population growth, native bass species in some rivers and lakes are incapable of thriving due to Alabama bass saturating the fisheries.

What can be done to manage this species? One current hope is to stock the native species to full capacity, giving them a competitive advantage when it comes to population growth. This method is unproven, however. Some natural resource management agencies are removing bag limits on Alabama bass outside of their native range, but there are too few anglers to help curb the population this way. The only way to keep the Alabama bass from taking over is to prevent their spread into new basins where they currently do not reside.

 

Chinese Privet (Photo: Creative Commons)
Chinese Privet

How did it get here? Remember when we said some species came from around the world? The Chinese privet ( Ligustrum sinense ) is a perfect example. Imported from China and Europe in the mid-1800s, the Chinese privet was originally intended to be an ornamental plant as it can be pruned into a dense hedge.

Why is it considered invasive? Remember how we said Chinese privet could be pruned into a dense hedge? Well, that density can be very detrimental to the surrounding plants that cannot tolerate the shade. The Chinese privet is a bit of a sun hog, and the native plants trying to grow beneath it suffer the consequences and begin to die off while the Chinese privet thrives. Another tool used by the Chinese privet is its own seeds. Area birds consume the purple fruit and distribute the seeds, facilitating expansion of the Chinese privet.

What can be done to manage this species? The Chinese privet is very difficult to eradicate if there are nearby seed sources. It can be controlled, however, with careful herbicide use. Some effective methods include applying glyphosate to foliage or freshly cut stumps, particularly during the growing season, which begins just after the beginning of spring. Another method is to uproot seedlings, which can be easily accomplished in moist soil.

 

Hydrilla (Photo: Southern Company)
Hydrilla verticillata (Hydrilla)

How did it get here? There are two biotypes of the submerged aquatic plant Hydrilla verticillata —monoecious, which has both male and female flowers on the same plant, and dioecious, which has male and female flowers on separate plants. The former originated in Korea while the latter came from southern India. The dioecious version was introduced via the aquarium plant trade in southern Florida in the late 1950s. By the 1970s it had spread all over Florida. The current hypothesis is that unsuspecting aquarium owners dumped contents of their aquariums with the Hydrilla plants in nearby water bodies, thus beginning the spread. Only a small fragment of a Hydrilla plant is needed to begin an entire colony.

The monoecious type was introduced farther north, in the Mid-Atlantic States and in the Potomac River Basin. It has since spread to many parts of the northeastern and southeastern U.S. The monoecious version is thought to have hitched a ride with boats and boat trailers, going from one body of water to the next. This helped it spread quickly over a wide range.

Why is it considered invasive? Hydrilla takes a page out of the Chinese privet playbook—it shades and outcompetes important native submersed plants such as pondweeds and coontails, blanketing the surface of the water with thick mats, resulting in altered water chemistry and dissolved oxygen levels. It does so quickly, too, as it can grow an inch each day. Hydrilla slows water flow and can clog culverts, water control intakes, and pumping stations with its thick floating mats. It also interferes with hydroelectric power generation by clogging intakes. Hydrilla also interferes with boating, swimming, and fishing.

What can be done to manage this species? Many environmental agencies conduct annual surveys to identify, map and assess the degree of Hydrilla spread. This is usually followed by an application of EPA-approved aquatic herbicides to the infested areas. The problem with Hydrilla is how quickly it grows. Once it invades a system, the goal becomes less about eradication and more about containment. Stakeholders can assist with containment by inspecting their boats and trailers and removing any Hydrilla fragments before entering or leaving water bodies.

 

Egeria densa (Photo: Creative Commons)
Egeria densa (Egeria)

How did it get here? Egeria densa is native to Brazil and coastal Uruguay. Much like Hydrilla, Egeria came to America through the aquarium trade; its first reported arrival was in 1893 in the Long Island, NY area. As with Hydrilla, Egeria was most likely dumped into water sources by unknowing aquarium owners, allowing it to traverse waterways.

Why is it considered invasive? Egeria densa, as its name suggests, can be very dense. It can also rapidly expand its biomass, outcompeting native vegetation. This creates monospecific stands, which leads to less biodiversity. Egeria can fill waterways with its thick growth pattern and hinder recreational use such as fishing, swimming and boating. Egeria densa also blocks out sunlight to the water column leading to dissolved oxygen deficits.

What can be done to manage this species? Management typically comes down to containment as once Egeria becomes established it can be difficult to eradicate. Targeted use of EPA-approved aquatic herbicides to keep the crop to the lowest feasible levels is usually the course of action. The use of herbicides begins in May and is sustained until early fall. As with Hydrilla, stakeholders can help by checking boats and trailers for any fragments and removing before entering and leaving any water bodies.

 

Flathead catfish (Photo: Creative Commons)
Flathead Catfish
How did it get here? The flathead catfish ( Pylodictis olivaris is) is native to the Mississippi River basin, however the fish has been transferred east of the Appalachian Mountains, outside of its natural range. Flatheads are excellent table fare and can reach large (regularly exceeding 50 pounds) sizes quickly. This makes them incredibly popular with anglers, which is why the fish were transferred in the first place.

Why is it considered invasive? Do you remember the schoolyard bully? Well, that’s what the flathead catfish is to the native species. They are voracious predators and have decimated native redbreast sunfish ( Lepomis auritus ) populations in many areas. Redbreast fisheries are virtually nonexistent in many rivers where flatheads have become established.

What can be done to manage this species? There are few options on the table for controlling flathead catfish. Some states are using electrofishing to actively remove adult flathead catfish from the population. This technique cannot fully eradicate flatheads from a river, but it has proven effective in reducing the average size of adult flatheads, providing some respite for redbreast sunfish survival. This technique must be implemented annually or the fish community will quickly revert. The only way to eradicate flathead catfish would be by using a piscicide such as rotenone. However this is not a viable option in most scenarios, as it would also kill all non-target fish species.

 

Kudzu (Photo: Creative Commons)
Kudzu

How did it get here? Ah yes, there couldn’t be a list about invasive species without talking about Kudzu ( Pueraria montana ). Originally planted as a landscape ornamental in Philadelphia in 1876, by the early 1900s Kudzu was being promoted for livestock forage as well as being promoted by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service for controlling soil erosion.

Why is it considered invasive? Anyone who lives in the Deep South knows all too well why Kudzu is considered invasive. It takes over everything, blanketing the area in a sea of green leaves. Like Chinese privet, Kudzu throws shade all over native species. However, Kudzu is an even greater threat because it can climb and shade out the tallest trees, often resulting in significant economic loss through timber damage. And the resulting snags can be hazardous to people living nearby when they eventually fall. The ecological damage Kudzu inflicts can be very serious when it threatens the existence of rare plants and sensitive natural communities.

What can be done to manage this species? Persistence pays off when dealing with Kudzu. The longer a stand has been established, the larger the root system will be. This means the resistance to control will be higher, making the job of containment and removal more difficult. One key to removal and containment is to target Kudzu stands with herbicides during the growing season. However applications must typically be repeated in successive years as the large roots re-sprout; Kudzu is nothing if not stubborn. Make sure to employ herbicides well in advance of the winter season to give them enough time to penetrate the root system. Perhaps a more ”green” method is to employ persistent grazing to help control and eventually eliminate patches. Southern Company takes an active role helping control, contain and eliminate invasive species. Through its Longleaf Stewardship Fund and the FiveStar and Urban Waters Restoration Program , Southern Company has awarded several grants to recipients around the South with the goal of combating invasive plants and wildlife, among other objectives. The aforementioned invasive species are just a few of the nuisances faced in the region. With the help of conscientious stakeholders as well as organizations such as Southern Company doing their part, we can help keep native species thriving in our neighborhoods.

21 reasons why forests are important

Sunlight filters through a forest in Union Wood near Ballygawley, Ireland. (Photo: Mark Carthy/Shutterstock)

 

Forests cover a third of all land on Earth, providing vital organic infrastructure for some of the planet's densest, most diverse collections of life. They support countless species as well as 1.6 billion human livelihoods, yet humans are also responsible for 32 million acres of deforestation every year

The United Nations declared March 21 the International Day of Forests in late 2012, part of a global effort to publicize both the value and plight of woodlands around the world. It was first celebrated March 21, 2013, nestling in between the U.N.'s International Day of Happiness on March 20 and World Water Day March 22. (It's also near tree-centric Tu B'Shevat in January 2016 and Arbor Day in April).

In honor of this seasonal focus on trees and forests, here's a list of 21 reasons why they're important:

1. They help us breathe.

Forests pump out the oxygen we need to live and absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale (or emit). Just one adult leafy tree can produce as much oxygen in a season as 10 people inhale in a year. Plankton are more prolific, providing half of Earth's oxygen, but forests are still a key source of breathable air.

2. They're more than just trees.

Nearly half of all known species live in forests, including 80 percent of biodiversity on land. That variety is especially rich in tropical rain forests, from rare parrots to endangered apes, but forests teem with life around the planet: Bugs and worms work nutrients into soil, bees and birds spread pollen and seeds, and keystone species like wolves and big cats keep hungry herbivores in check.

3. People live there, too.

Some 300 million people live in forests worldwide, including an estimated 60 million indigenous people whose survival depends almost entirely on native woods. Many millions more live along or near forest fringes, but even just a scattering of urban trees can raise property values and lower crime.

 

The canopy towers over a coastal-plain forest in Italy's Nazionale del Circeo. (Photo: Nicola /Flickr)

4. They keep us cool.

By growing a canopy to hog sunlight, trees also create vital oases of shade on the ground. Urban trees help buildings stay cool, reducing the need for electric fans or air conditioners, while large forests can tackle daunting tasks like curbing a city's "heat island" effect or regulating regional temperatures.



5. They keep Earth cool.

Trees also have another way to beat the heat: absorb CO2 that fuels global warming. Plants always need some CO2 for photosynthesis, but Earth's air is now so thick with extra emissions that forests fight global warming just by breathing. CO2 is stored in wood, leaves and soil, often for centuries.

6. They make it rain.

Large forests can influence regional weather patterns and even create their own microclimates. The Amazon, for example, generates atmospheric conditions that not only promote regular rainfall there and in nearby farmland, but potentially as far away as the Great Plains of North America.

7. They fight flooding.

Tree roots are key allies in heavy rain, especially for low-lying areas like river plains. They help the ground absorb more of a flash flood, reducing soil loss and property damage by slowing the flow.

 

Erawan Falls flows through a rain forest in the Tenasserim Hills of western Thailand. (Photo: Shutterstock)

8. They pay it forward.

On top of flood control, soaking up surface runoff also protects ecosystems downstream. Modern stormwater increasingly carries toxic chemicals, from gasoline and lawn fertilizer to pesticides and pig manure, that accumulate through watersheds and eventually create low-oxygen " dead zones ."

9. They refill aquifers.

Forests are like giant sponges, catching runoff rather than letting it roll across the surface, but they can't absorb all of it. Water that gets past their roots trickles down into aquifers, replenishing groundwater supplies that are important for drinking, sanitation and irrigation around the world.

10. They block wind.

Farming near a forest has lots of benefits, like bats and songbirds that eat insects or owls and foxes that eat rats. But groups of trees can also serve as a windbreak , providing a buffer for wind-sensitive crops. And beyond protecting those plants, less wind also makes it easier for bees to pollinate them.

11. They keep dirt in its place.

A forest's root network stabilizes huge amounts of soil, bracing the entire ecosystem's foundation against erosion by wind or water. Not only does deforestation disrupt all that, but the ensuing soil erosion can trigger new, life-threatening problems like landslides and dust storms.

 

An arboreal blanket covers Pine Creek Gorge in northern Pennsylvania's Tioga State Forest. (Photo: Nicholas A. Tonelli /Flickr)

12. They clean up dirty soil.

In addition to holding soil in place, forests may also use phytoremediation to clean out certain pollutants. Trees can either sequester the toxins away or degrade them to be less dangerous. This is a helpful skill, letting trees absorb sewage overflows, roadside spills or contaminated runoff.

13. They clean up dirty air.

We herald houseplants for purifying the air, but don't forget forests. They can clean up air pollution on a much larger scale, and not just the aforementioned CO2. Trees catch and soak in a wide range of airborne pollutants, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide.

14. They muffle noise pollution.

Sound fades in forests, making trees a popular natural noise barrier. The muffling effect is largely due to rustling leaves — plus other woodland white noise, like bird songs — and just a few well-placed trees can cut background sound by 5 to 10 decibels, or about 50 percent as heard by human ears.

15. They feed us.

Not only do trees provide fruits, nuts, seeds and sap, but they also enable a cornucopia near the forest floor, from edible mushrooms, berries and beetles to larger game like deer, turkeys, rabbits and fish.

 

A red-eyed vireo, common in North America's eastern forests, finds a berry in Ontario. (Photo: Matt MacGillivray /Flickr)

16. They give us medicine.

Forests provide a wealth of natural medicines and increasingly inspire synthetic spin-offs. The asthma drug theophylline comes from cacao trees, for example, while a compound in eastern red cedar needles has been found to fight MRSA, a type of staph infection that resists many antibiotic drugs. About 70 percent of all known plants with cancer-fighting properties occur only in rain forests.

17. They help us make things.

Where would humans be without timber and resin? We've long used these renewable resources to make everything from paper and furniture to homes and clothing, but we also have a history of getting carried away, leading to overuse and deforestation. Thanks to the growth of tree farming and sustainable forestry, though, it's becoming easier to find responsibly sourced tree products.

18. They create jobs.

More than 1.6 billion people rely on forests to some extent for their livelihoods, according to the U.N., and 10 million are directly employed in forest management or conservation. Forests contribute about 1 percent of the global gross domestic product through timber production and non-timber products, the latter of which alone support up to 80 percent of the population in many developing countries.

19. They create majesty.

Natural beauty may be the most obvious and yet least tangible benefit a forest offers. The abstract blend of shade, greenery, activity and tranquility can yield concrete advantages for people, however, like convincing us to appreciate and preserve old-growth forests for future generations.

 

Romania's Danube Delta, home to 15,000 people, is the best-preserved river delta in Europe. (Photo: Getty Images)

20. They help us explore and relax.

Our innate attraction to forests, part of a phenomenon known as "biophilia," is still in the relatively early stages of scientific explanation. We know biophilia draws humans to water, woods and other natural scenery, though, and exposure to forests has been shown to boost creativity , suppress ADHD, speed up recovery, and encourage meditation and mindfulness. It may even help us live longer .

21. They're pillars of their communities.

Like the famous rug in "The Big Lebowski," forests really tie everything together — and we often don't appreciate them until they're gone. Beyond all their specific ecological perks (which can't even fit in a list this long), they've reigned for eons as Earth's most successful setting for life on land. Our species probably couldn't live without them, but it's up to us to make sure we never have to try. The more we enjoy and understand forests, the less likely we are to miss them for the trees.

If you still don't have forest fever, check out the animated video below, produced by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to raise awareness about International Day of Forests:

Nature Conservancy keeping the ‘Wild and Wonderful’ in W.Va.

Submitted photo Thomas Minney, West Virginia state director for The Nature Conservancy, studies a map of one of the organization’s project sites.

WHEELING — As CEO of The Nature Conservancy, Mark Tercek knows all about “Wild and Wonderful” — on a global scale.

Tercek — who heads an organization that works in all 50 states and on six continents — understands West Virginia’s state slogan is much more than a marketing gimmick, and he believes The Nature Conservancy can play an important role in sharing that with the world.

“You have tremendously beautiful ecosystems. I don’t think the country as a whole fully appreciates that,” Tercek said during an interview at the Environmental Council of the States’ annual fall meeting, held last week at Oglebay Park. “Our challenge is to protect them, and we don’t feel that time’s on our side.”

In its more than 50 years in West Virginia, The Nature Conservancy’s work has helped preserve treasures such as Cheat Canyon and Cranesville Swamp, southeast of Morgantown; Smoke Hole Canyon in Grant and Pendleton counties; Canaan Valley; Bear Rocks Preserve at Dolly Sods; and the New River Gorge — some of the last places to which people can go to disconnect, if temporarily, from an increasingly fast-paced society.

“We’ve been here since the 1960s, working on conservation in West Virginia — conserving the land and water on which all life depends,” said Thomas Minney, West Virginia state director for The Nature Conservancy.

Part of the organization’s mission in West Virginia is to promote natural resource-based economies. From protecting more than 1,600 acres on the rim of the New River Gorge, where for more than 35 years tourists from all over have flocked to take part in Bridge Day, to working toward a whitewater rafting renaissance at Cheat Canyon, Minney believes the state chapter has been wildly successful in that.

“Each one of those places has turned into a hub of sustainable development in West Virginia,” Minney said.

An ‘Outsized Role’

West Virginia’s size, geographically, belies its importance to The Nature Conservancy’s overall mission of protecting water quality and biodiversity everywhere, according to Tercek and Minney.

That means the striking vistas at conservancy-protected locations, from the rushing whitewater at Cheat Canyon to the fiery red of the heath shrubs in September at Bear Rocks Preserve, are more than just once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities.

“West Virginia is at a peak of biodiversity,” Minney said. “We have some of the most intact forests anywhere in the country, and some of the most dense forests in the world.”

An example of West Virginia’s importance is The Nature Conservancy’s most recent project in the Mountain State, the protection of more than 400 acres at the Sinks of Gandy in Randolph County. The area is home to a variety of rare and protected species, including the Virginia big-eared and northern long-eared bats, the West Virginia northern flying squirrel and the Cheat Mountain salamander.

The property borders the Monongahela National Forest, which makes it crucial to sustaining healthy and diverse plant an animal populations there, according to the conservancy.

Tercek said West Virginia is well-positioned to have a major impact on the surrounding region, and that’s why it’s a focus for the conservancy.

“As the heart of the Appalachians, it has an outsized role,” he said of the Mountain State. “Protecting those places in West Virginia gives you a lot of return for your investment.”

An Unlikely Collaboration

Tercek’s leadership of The Nature Conservancy represents a collision of two worlds that many see as directly opposed to one another: nature and business.

A former partner at Goldman Sachs, Tercek left the investment banking firm in 2008 to take the CEO job with The Nature Conservancy. In the years since, he’s brought a different perspective to the organization that has meshed with its overall mission in a way some may have doubted was possible.

Tercek is an advocate of the concept of “natural capital” — placing importance on nature not only for its beauty but for the ways in which it can help people. It’s the subject of his book, “Nature’s Fortune: How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature,” copies of which he signed during his visit to Oglebay. His approach — partnering with, rather than opposing, business — has been chronicled in such publications as Forbes, Fortune and The Economist.

“We want our conservation to work in a way that’s aligned with economic opportunity and aligned with what people need,” Tercek said.

So what does that mean for West Virginia?

It means, Tercek said, taking a pragmatic approach to issues such as natural gas exploration — which, although in a downturn now, has transformed the state’s economy over the last five to seven years. He said The Nature Conservancy, rather than vilifying industry, wants to work with states where drilling and fracking is happening to ensure the least environmental impact while still producing the resource.

“You can’t instantly go from a fossil fuel-based economy to one that’s not. … We’re for robust, environmentally safe fracking,” Tercek said. “We don’t say, ‘No’ — rather, we say, ‘How?'”

Although The Nature Conservancy is a nonpartisan organization that prides itself on bridging differences on difficult issues, he acknowledged many“activist” organizations don’t buy into that approach. And that’s OK, he said.

“They’re led by good people, and they do important work. There are bad actors who need to be put under a little heat,” Tercek said of such organizations.

A Global Mission

The Nature Conservancy as it’s known today was founded in 1951, after a small group of scientists decided action was needed to save threatened natural areas. Its first foray into land acquisition came four years later when it spent $7,500 to finance the purchase of 60 acres along the Mianus River Gorge on the New York-Connecticut border.

That loan was to be repaid and used to establish a revolving fund for other conservation projects. That fund remains The Nature Conservancy’s most important tool in protecting ecologically valuable land, according to its website.

The conservancy continued to expand over the next two decades, eventually growing to cover all 50 states by 1974. The organization turned its eyes beyond the United States in 1980, deciding to focus also on Latin America. Its first foray into the Western Hemisphere came in 1990 with the construction of an office in the Pacific island republic of Palau.

“For 65 years, we’ve been known as a pragmatic, nonpartisan organization that brings diverse parties together to advance conservation progress,”Tercek said during the ECOS fall meeting at Oglebay. “That approach allowed us to become the largest conservation organization in America and the world. Our work is firmly rooted in strong science, creative partnerships and boots on the ground.

The Importance of Nature

Beautiful, benevolent, and soul restoring, nature waits for us to bring her home.

Importance of nature, it’s not so much that humanity has destroyed a large part of the natural world and withdrawn from the remainder.

We have also expelled it needlessly from our daily lives. Today, the number of people living in urban areas has passed the number living in rural areas.

Simultaneously, the home range of each person on average, the area traversed on a regular basis, is declining steadily.

In the cities we do not grow our own food or hunt for it.

Mostly, we pick it up at a market and have little idea of its origin.

Our eyes are fastened upon the digitized images of screens.

Even the images of nature we see are those of remote places, taken by other people.

No matter, we say—the city sustains us, and we are happy. But so are cattle in a feedlot.

They are provided with the essentials of maintenance but can never live the lives true to their species and the epic million year evolution that put them on Earth. They cannot visit the habitat in which they were born.

They cannot roam freely, explore, learn the dangers and discover the delights that shaped their bodies and brains. And to a lesser degree, the same is true of humans in most of the cities around the world.

Cities—rural villages in the beginning—have been in existence for only about ten thousand years, and then for most of the ensuing time for only a very small percentage of the population.

In Biophilic Cities: Integrating Nature into Urban Design and Planning, Timothy Beatley shows that in creating them, we have carelessly left out part of the environment vital to the full development of the human mind.

The evidence is compelling that frequent exposure to the natural world improves mental health, it offers a deep sense of inner peace, and, in many ways we have only begun to understand by scientific reason, it improves the quality of life.

Beatley also demonstrates the many ways to design urban landscapes and buildings to bring nature into the hearts of our cities. He shows the effect of even little changes in health and economic growth.

The cost is relatively little to further such a re-adaptation to the rest of the living world, and the potential benefits are enormous.

In his recent works surveying sustainable cities in Europe and Australia, Beatley argues that although cities typically consume large quantities of fossil fuels and generate enormous amounts of waste and pollution, they are the most important centers for positive environmental change.

Beatley notes that the high population density that characterizes most cities (especially European cities) also means that land is used efficiently, that automobiles are not the primary mode of transportation, and that per-capita consumption of resources is low.

Beatley’s description of a typical sustainable city is one that is compact and walkable with easily accessible parks and green spaces. Such a city also would emphasize sustainable forms of mobility, such as public transportation and bicycles.

Parallel to Beatley’s studies, the concept of Green Urbanism has widely been discussed by Steffen Lehmann in Australia, for instance in his book The Principles of Green Urbanism (Earthscan, London, 2010) and in the journal S.A.P.I.EN.S.

In Beatley’s view, a city exemplifies green urbanism if it strives to live within its ecological limits, is designed to function in ways analogous to nature, strives to achieve a circular rather than a linear metabolism, strives toward local and regional self-sufficiency, facilitates more sustainable lifestyles, and emphasizes a high quality of neighborhood and community life.

Beatley uses these six points to define Green Urbanism as a different type of New Urbanism, and therefore an ecological movement, although others have interpreted Beatley’s definition to be simply an alternative type of urban design.

Nature Matters - The importance of a healthy natural environment

We depend entirely on a healthy natural environment for our wealth and wellbeing. It is fundamental to our economy and social structures, our homes and neighbourhoods, our ability to create and construct things, and to our health and happiness. Human beings are part of the natural world; we are one species amongst millions and have evolved to be part of nature, not apart from it.

While millions of people regularly watch TV programmes about nature and wildlife, the membership of nature conservation organisations is growing but really needs more support to help wildlife for the future. Legislation intended to protect nature is becoming more abundant and a growing area of land (and more recently, sea) is being designated as having special protection. However wildlife and wild places have been declining in quantity and quality for decades and continue to do so. The high value that people often attach to nature on a personal, individual level, is rarely translated into public policy or the investment and spending decisions of government, organisations and private companies.

The Wildlife Trusts (TWTs) are working within communities across the UK to create Living Landscapes and to secure Living Seas – to make places that are rich in wildlife, bigger, better and more joined up. This will provide a long-term future for the natural communities of plants, animals and fungi with which we share these islands and their surrounding seas, and will increase the natural environment’s ability to provide value to people now and in future. We are working to help nature to recover – for its own good and for the good of the people who depend on it. We don’t just want to slow or halt the decline: we want to reverse it.

If we’re going to succeed in this, and these Living Landscapes and Living Seas are going to spread and last, then a far greater part of society will need to be inspired to take action for nature, and enabled to both feel and understand the full extent of how valuable nature is to us and our communities.

Nature matters simply because it does, but also because it brings people huge emotional value, it delivers a wide range of valuable goods and services that are of practical benefit to society, and much of the emotional and practical value that it generates has financial value which contributes to the economic performance of the UK. It is central to addressing many of the UK’s most pressing social and economic problems (such as declining mental health, increasing non-communicable diseases, declining social cohesion, increasing inequality, increasing flood risk, increasing urbanisation) and to maintaining the productivity and quality of life of a growing and aging population).

Ecosystem Services

We know that the natural environment provides us with a wide range of ‘ecosystem services’: all the things that people need and want that come from the natural world of which human beings are a part.

We receive provisioning services (food, fibre, energy, drinking water, building materials, natural medicine). We get regulating services (pollination, waste breakdown, regulation of flood, drought and local climate, control of pests, disease and pollution). And we get cultural services (meaningful places, access and recreation, tourism, creative inspiration and spiritual enrichment). At its foundations, there are several ‘supporting services’ that underpin and enable all the others: water and mineral cycling, energy flow, and ecological interactions such as food webs, species distribution, vegetation structure, soil and water. Not to mention other services that we are yet to discover.

The living part of the natural world – the wild plants, animals and fungi with which human beings share the Earth; the wildlife – is a vital part of the whole. All the other services depend on it.

Different people recognise the value of the many things that the natural world provides to us in different ways:

Some recognise that nature and wildlife have intrinsic value... They are valuable in their own right and we have a moral responsibility to look after them, irrespective of any benefit humans might get from them.

Many draw emotional value from nature and wildlife. Seeing it, or even just knowing it is there, makes us feel good. We enjoy it.

Unquestionably, nature provides goods and services to us that are of practical value to us and to the rest of society. Food production, flood control and improved physical and mental health and wellbeing all have practical, societal value.

And many (but certainly not all) aspects of nature, the goods and services that it provides, can be bought and sold. They have financial value.

A central part of Trust work is to open people’s hearts and minds to help them to understand and to enable people to make the right decisions and take the right action to reflect the whole range of value that nature provides to us.

One of the reasons why the full value of nature hasn’t been recognised effectively until now is that often those who recognise nature’s intrinsic value have refused to acknowledge that it can also have financial worth; or vice-versa. Or those who value nature for the tradable financial value it generates have failed to recognise that its financial value is dependent on its ability to generate emotional or societal value – its ability to generate emotional connections or to deliver useful goods and services.

Inspiring People

To inspire people, Gwent Wildlife Trust along with the other Trusts aim to communicate and demonstrate that nature matters, in all its different ways. We tailor how we communicate to address the preferences and priorities of the people with whom we are communicating.

Nature matters because it is priceless... It is great; we love it... It is useful; our wellbeing depends on it... And it is productive; it creates monetary wealth. And these basic messages lie behind what we are trying to communicate.

Leading Communities

To lead communities, we will need to build the commitment of people to our cause by enabling them to appreciate why The Wildlife Trusts matter to them and their communities. We as Trusts champion nature’s recovery. We look after great wild places. We aim to increase the wellbeing of local people. And we increase the prosperity of the communities of which we are a part.

Probably most importantly of all, through all of these we are inclusive and welcoming and we work with other people to establish common cause. We lead communities from within, by inspiring, advising, guiding, helping and supporting people to share our journey with us, and we share their journeys with them.

Enabling Action

We can establish common cause with people and motivate them to act by making it clear why they matter to The Wildlife Trusts, and why they matter to nature. Their decisions and actions count. There are things they can do that will help both The Wildlife Trusts and the natural world… and we can help them to do them. Because they are the ones that will ultimately make the biggest difference… not us. And ultimately, no-one will take action if they don’t understand what they can do, or feel why it’s important for them to do it... Why they matter.

People matter because... they can demonstrate that nature matters, to others like them. They can share their enjoyment of nature; they can work with The Wildlife Trusts to take action for nature and they can invest money (and other resources) in nature’s recovery.

We will know that we are making significant progress towards this goal when the UK’s natural environment is improving – when its stocks of natural capital (the part of the natural environment that generates value to people) are growing, when its wildlife is thriving and when recent significant downward trends in the quantity, quality and distribution of the natural environment are heading in the opposite direction. In short, we are aiming to achieve a resilient natural environment that has recovered substantially from past declines and within which wildlife flourishes and ecological processes function effectively.

Living Landscape

TWT believe that this will be achieved when individual natural landscapes across the UK are bigger and more joined up. When the whole landscape functions ecologically; when it is rich in wildlife and it delivers substantial personal, social and economic benefits to people throughout our towns, cities and countryside.

Living Seas

Beyond our shores, we will know when we have succeeded in our mission when the UK has an ecologically coherent marine network with marine ecosystems that function well and thriving marine wildlife; when development is planned and regulated to cause minimal harmful impact and fisheries are managed sustainably.

A Society Connected to Nature

A further crucial aspect of TWT’s ambition is that the communities within which we work and society as a whole should feel connected to the natural environment. It should be a real and palpable part of everyone’s life. When we have succeeded in our work, society will value the natural environment highly and it will be the norm for people to invest money, time, physical and mental effort and emotional commitment to bring about nature’s recovery. They will take action for nature because it is simply the done thing.

Nature Matters

When this goal has been achieved, people will have a lifelong love of and connection to nature. They will be consciously aware that they and their communities are benefiting socially and economically from what nature provides. Communities and organisations (including businesses and public bodies) will feel inspired, motivated and empowered to invest time, money and effort to help bring about and sustain nature’s recovery.

And it will be well positioned to inspire, lead, motivate and empower people – to communicate the value of nature to people through our mass communications and our face to face personal contacts – at our centres, on our sites, within the communities where our work takes place and with the business leaders, politicians and influential thinkers who we encounter in the course of our lives. To bring the value of nature into people’s lives and make it explicit to them.

If we manage to achieve tangible progress towards creating a bigger, better, more joined up landscape that is rich in wildlife, and towards a healthy marine environment within which ecosystems function and wildlife thrives, these will further help to demonstrate the value of nature to society and to the economy – helping to build a connection with nature and awareness of humanity’s dependence on a healthy natural environment. They will also help to demonstrate how nature can be enabled to recover and the parts that different people can play in that.

The work of Wildlife Trusts to lead communities and inspire people to value and take action for nature is particularly important – partly because as active, practical, local organisations we have a stronger local presence and better connections into many communities – particularly those in urban areas and the business community – than any other major environmental organisation in the UK.

It is also particularly important because the more people are inspired, motivated and empowered to value and take action for nature.

What does Nature give us? A special Earth Day article

 

Rainforest leaves in Uganda. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

There is no question that Earth has been a giving planet. Everything humans have needed to survive, and thrive, was provided by the natural world around us: food, water, medicine, materials for shelter, and even natural cycles such as climate and nutrients. Scientists have come to term such gifts ‘ecosystem services’, however the recognition of such services goes back thousands of years, and perhaps even farther if one accepts the caves paintings at Lascaux as evidence. Yet we have so disconnected ourselves from the natural world that it is easy—and often convenient—to forget that nature remains as giving as ever, even as it vanishes bit-by-bit. The rise of technology and industry may have distanced us superficially from nature, but it has not changed our reliance on the natural world: most of what we use and consume on a daily basis remains the product of multitudes of interactions within nature, and many of those interactions are imperiled. Beyond such physical goods, the natural world provides less tangible, but just as important, gifts in terms of beauty, art, and spirituality.

Earth Day seems as good a day as any to remind ourselves what nature gives us free-of-charge. Here then is a selective sampling of nature’s importance to our lives:

Tad lo waterfall in Laos. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

Fresh water 

There is no physical substance humans require more than freshwater: without water we can only survive a few hellish days. While pollution and overuse has threatened many of the world’s drinking water sources, nature has an old-fashioned solution, at least, to pollution. Healthy freshwater ecosystems—watersheds, wetlands, and forests—naturally clean pollution and toxins from water. Soils, microorganisms, and plant roots all play a role in filtering and recycling out pollutants with a price far cheaper than building a water filtration plant. According to research, the more biodiverse the ecosystem, the faster and more efficiently water is purified. 

Pollination

Imagine trying to pollinate every apple blossom in an orchard: this is what nature does for us. Insects, birds, and even some mammals, pollinate the world’s plants, including much of human agriculture. Around 80% of the world’s plants require a different species to act as pollinator.

In agriculture, pollinators are required for everything from tomatoes to cocoa, and almonds to buckwheat, among hundreds of other crops. Globally, agricultural pollination has been estimated to be worth around $216 billion a year. However large such monetary estimates don’t include pollination for crops consumed by livestock, biofuels, ornamental flowers, or the massive importance of wild plant pollination. 

Seed dispersal

 Much like pollination, many of the world’s plants require other species to move their seeds from the parent plant to new sprouting ground. Seeds are dispersed by an incredibly wide-variety of players: birds, bats, rodents, megafauna like elephants and tapir, and even, researchers have recently discovered, fish. Seed dispersal is especially important for tropical forests where a majority of plants depend on animals to move.

Pest control

A recent study found that bats save US agriculture billions of dollars a year simply by doing what they do naturally: eating insects, many of which are potentially harmful to US crops.

Almost all agricultural pests have natural enemies, along with bats, these include birds, spiders, parasitic wasps and flies, fungi, and viral diseases. The loss, or even decline, of such pest-eating predators can have massive impacts on agriculture and ecosystems.

The world’s dung beetles have a dirty job, but someone has to do it: feeding exclusively on feces dung beetles play a big role in nutrient and soil recycling. This beetle was photographed in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

Soil health

  The ground under our feet matters more than we often admit. Healthy fertile soil provides optimal homes for plants, while participating in a number of natural cycles: from recycling nutrients to purifying water. Although soil is renewable, it is also sensitive to overuse and degradation often due to industrial agriculture, pollution, and fertilizers. Natural vegetation and quality soil also mitigates excessive erosion, which can have dramatic impacts from loss of agricultural land to coastlines simply disappearing into the sea. 

Medicine

Nature is our greatest medicine cabinet: to date it has provided humankind with a multitude of life-saving medicines from quinine to aspirin, and from morphine to numerous cancer and HIV-fighting drugs. There is no question that additionally important medications—perhaps even miracle cures—lie untapped in the world’s ecosystems. In fact, researchers estimate that less than 1% of the world’s known species have been fully examined for their medicinal value. However the ecosystems that have yielded some of the world’s most important and promising drugs—such as rainforests, peat swamps, and coral reefs—are also among the most endangered. Preserving ecosystems and species today may benefit, or even save, millions of lives tomorrow. 

 

Fisheries

Humankind has turned to the rivers and seas for food for at least 40,000 years but probably even longer. Today, amid concern of a global fishery collapse, more than a billion people depend on fish as their primary source of protein, many of them among the global poor. Fisheries also provide livelihoods, both directly and indirectly, for around half a billion. Coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass ecosystems provide nurseries for the world’s fisheries, while the open ocean is used for migrating routes and hunting.

Even with the direct importance of the world’s fisheries for food, stewardship has been lacking, allowing many populations to drop precipitously and still permitting ecologically destructive fishing. While the world’s fisheries are primarily threatened by overfishing, including bycatch, marine pollution is also a major problem.

In the hugely imperiled tropical rainforests of Sumatra, diverse species of butterflies feed on ground nutrients. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

Biodiversity and wildlife abundance

The argument to save the world’s wildlife has often come from an aesthetic point of view. Many conservationists have fought to save species simply because they like a particular species. This is often why more popularly known animals—tigers, elephants, rhinos—receive far more attention than less popular (although just as endangered) wildlife—for example, the redbelly egg frog, the smokey bat, or the bastard quiver tree. But beyond making the world a less lonely, less boring, and less beautiful place—admirable reasons in themselves—many of the services provided by biodiversity are similar to those provided by all of nature. Biodiversity produces food, fibers, wood products; it cleans water, controls agricultural pests, pollinates and dispersers the world plants; and provides recreation, such as birdwatching, gardening, diving, and ecotourism.

In the discussion of biodiversity, however, bioabundance is often ignored. A loss in bioabundance means that species are not just important for their diversity, but for their numbers. While Asian elephants may not go extinct any time soon, their depletion in forests means that the ecosystems lose the elephants’ special ecological talents such as spreading seeds and engineering micro-habitats. The drop in salmon populations in the US has caused the entire freshwater ecosystem to receive less nutrients every year (researchers estimate a nutrient-drop of over 90 percent); this means less food for people, less salmon for predators, and a less rich river overall. Declining nutrients also makes it impossible for the salmon to rebound to optimal populations, creating a vicious circle of bio-decline.

Climate regulation

The natural world helps regulate the Earth’s climate. Ecosystems such as rainforests, peatlands, and mangroves store significant amounts of carbon, while the ocean captures massive amounts of carbon through phytoplankton. While regulating greenhouse gases are imperative in the age of climate change, new research is showing that the world’s ecosystems may also play a role in weather. A recent study found that the Amazon rainforest acted as its own ‘bioreactor’, producing clouds and precipitation through the abundance of plant materials in the forest.

Economy

In the common tension viewed between the economy and the environment—e.g. do we clear-cut a forest or conserve it?—one fact is often neglected: the environment underpins the entire global economy. Without fertile soils, clean drinking water, healthy forests, and a stable climate, the world’s economy would face disaster. By imperiling our environment, we imperil the economy. According to research published in Science, the global worth of total ecosystem services could run between $40-60 trillion a year.

Health

 Recent research has found what nature-lovers have long expected: spending time in a green space, such as a park, provides benefits for one’s mental and physical health. Exercising in a park, instead of inside a gym, has shown to provide mental health benefits as a greater sense of well-being. Walking for 20 minutes in a green space has been proven to help children with ADHD improve their concentration, even working as well, or better, than medication. People who live in more natural settings have better overall health, even when research has taken into account economic differences. 

Mosaic artwork of wildlife in Buddhist temple in Laos. Nature has inspired both art and religion around the world. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.

Art

 Imagine poetry without flowers, painting without landscapes, or film without scenery. Imagine if Shakespeare had no rose to compare Juliet to, or if William Blake had no Tyger to set alight. Imagine if Van Gogh lacked crows to paint or Durer a rhinoceros to cut. What would the Jungle Book be without Baloo or the Wind in the Willows without Mr. Badger? Imagine My Antonia without the red grass of the American prairie or Wuthering Heights without the bleak moors. How would The Lord of the Rings film series appear without the stunning mountain ranges of New Zealand, or Lawrence of Arabia without the desert of North Africa? There is no question that the natural world has provided global arts with some of its greatest subjects. What we lose in nature, we also lose in art. 

Spiritual

While some of what nature provides us is measurable, most of what nature gives us is simply beyond measure. Economic measurements are useful; but as with most of what happens in the world, economics is simply incapable of capturing true worth. Science is also a useful measurement regarding the importance of nature, but once again cannot measure what nature means—practically and aesthetically—to each individual.

Perhaps the most difficult gift of nature’s to measure is its ingrained connection to human spirituality. In most of the world’s religions the natural world is rightly revered. In Christianity, Earthly paradise existed in a garden, while Noah, the original conservationist, is commanded by God to save every species. Buddhists believe all life—from the smallest fly to the blue whale—is sacred and worthy of compassion. For Hindus every bit of the natural world is infused with divinity. Muslims believe the natural world was created by Allah and only given to humans as gift to be held in trust. Indigenous cultures worldwide celebrate the natural world as their ‘mother’.

But one need not be religious to understand the importance of nature to the human spirit: one only need spend time alone in a shadowy forest, sit on a forgotten beach, touch the spine of a living frog, or watch the quarter moon swing behind mountain silhouettes. 

  A church rests in the shadows of mountains in Madagascar’s Tsaranoro Valley. Photo by: Rhett Butler.

Nature Matters - The importance of a healthy natural environment

We depend entirely on a healthy natural environment for our wealth and wellbeing. It is fundamental to our economy and social structures, our homes and neighbourhoods, our ability to create and construct things, and to our health and happiness. Human beings are part of the natural world; we are one species amongst millions and have evolved to be part of nature, not apart from it.

Nature matters simply because it does, but also because it brings people huge emotional value, it delivers a wide range of valuable goods and services that are of practical benefit to society, and much of the emotional and practical value that it generates has financial value which contributes to the economic performance of the UK. It is central to addressing many of the UK’s most pressing social and economic problems (such as declining mental health, increasing non-communicable diseases, declining social cohesion, increasing inequality, increasing flood risk, increasing urbanisation) and to maintaining the productivity and quality of life of a growing and aging population)

Ecosystem Services

We know that the natural environment provides us with a wide range of ‘ecosystem services’: all the things that people need and want that come from the natural world of which human beings are a part.

We receive provisioning services (food, fibre, energy, drinking water, building materials, natural medicine). We get regulating services (pollination, waste breakdown, regulation of flood, drought and local climate, control of pests, disease and pollution). And we get cultural services (meaningful places, access and recreation, tourism, creative inspiration and spiritual enrichment). At its foundations, there are several ‘supporting services’ that underpin and enable all the others: water and mineral cycling, energy flow, and ecological interactions such as food webs, species distribution, vegetation structure, soil and water. Not to mention other services that we are yet to discover.

The living part of the natural world – the wild plants, animals and fungi with which human beings share the Earth; the wildlife – is a vital part of the whole. All the other services depend on it.

Different people recognise the value of the many things that the natural world provides to us in different ways:
Some recognise that nature and wildlife have intrinsic value... They are valuable in their own right and we have a moral responsibility to look after them, irrespective of any benefit humans might get from them.
Many draw emotional value from nature and wildlife. Seeing it, or even just knowing it is there, makes us feel good. We enjoy it.
Unquestionably, nature provides goods and services to us that are of practical value to us and to the rest of society. Food production, flood control and improved physical and mental health and wellbeing all have practical, societal value.
And many (but certainly not all) aspects of nature, the goods and services that it provides, can be bought and sold. They have financial value.

Inspiring People

To inspire people, Gwent Wildlife Trust along with the other Trusts aim to communicate and demonstrate that nature matters, in all its different ways. We tailor how we communicate to address the preferences and priorities of the people with whom we are communicating.

Nature matters because it is priceless... It is great; we love it... It is useful; our wellbeing depends on it... And it is productive; it creates monetary wealth. And these basic messages lie behind what we are trying to communicate.

Leading Communities

To lead communities, we will need to build the commitment of people to our cause by enabling them to appreciate why The Wildlife Trusts matter to them and their communities. We as Trusts champion nature’s recovery. We look after great wild places. We aim to increase the wellbeing of local people. And we increase the prosperity of the communities of which we are a part.

Probably most importantly of all, through all of these we are inclusive and welcoming and we work with other people to establish common cause. We lead communities from within, by inspiring, advising, guiding, helping and supporting people to share our journey with us, and we share their journeys with them.

Enabling Action

We can establish common cause with people and motivate them to act by making it clear why they matter to The Wildlife Trusts, and why they matter to nature. Their decisions and actions count. There are things they can do that will help both The Wildlife Trusts and the natural world… and we can help them to do them. Because they are the ones that will ultimately make the biggest difference… not us. And ultimately, no-one will take action if they don’t understand what they can do, or feel why it’s important for them to do it... Why they matter.

People matter because... they can demonstrate that nature matters, to others like them. They can share their enjoyment of nature; they can work with The Wildlife Trusts to take action for nature and they can invest money (and other resources) in nature’s recovery.

We will know that we are making significant progress towards this goal when the UK’s natural environment is improving – when its stocks of natural capital (the part of the natural environment that generates value to people) are growing, when its wildlife is thriving and when recent significant downward trends in the quantity, quality and distribution of the natural environment are heading in the opposite direction. In short, we are aiming to achieve a resilient natural environment that has recovered substantially from past declines and within which wildlife flourishes and ecological processes function effectively.

Living Landscape

TWT believe that this will be achieved when individual natural landscapes across the UK are bigger and more joined up. When the whole landscape functions ecologically; when it is rich in wildlife and it delivers substantial personal, social and economic benefits to people throughout our towns, cities and countryside.

Living Seas

Beyond our shores, we will know when we have succeeded in our mission when the UK has an ecologically coherent marine network with marine ecosystems that function well and thriving marine wildlife; when development is planned and regulated to cause minimal harmful impact and fisheries are managed sustainably

A Society Connected to Nature

A further crucial aspect of TWT’s ambition is that the communities within which we work and society as a whole should feel connected to the natural environment. It should be a real and palpable part of everyone’s life. When we have succeeded in our work, society will value the natural environment highly and it will be the norm for people to invest money, time, physical and mental effort and emotional commitment to bring about nature’s recovery. They will take action for nature because it is simply the done thing.

Nature Matters

When this goal has been achieved, people will have a lifelong love of and connection to nature. They will be consciously aware that they and their communities are benefiting socially and economically from what nature provides. Communities and organisations (including businesses and public bodies) will feel inspired, motivated and empowered to invest time, money and effort to help bring about and sustain nature’s recovery.

And it will be well positioned to inspire, lead, motivate and empower people – to communicate the value of nature to people through our mass communications and our face to face personal contacts – at our centres, on our sites, within the communities where our work takes place and with the business leaders, politicians and influential thinkers who we encounter in the course of our lives. To bring the value of nature into people’s lives and make it explicit to them.

If we manage to achieve tangible progress towards creating a bigger, better, more joined up landscape that is rich in wildlife, and towards a healthy marine environment within which ecosystems function and wildlife thrives, these will further help to demonstrate the value of nature to society and to the economy – helping to build a connection with nature and awareness of humanity’s dependence on a healthy natural environment. They will also help to demonstrate how nature can be enabled to recover and the parts that different people can play in that.

The work of Wildlife Trusts to lead communities and inspire people to value and take action for nature is particularly important – partly because as active, practical, local organisations we have a stronger local presence and better connections into many communities – particularly those in urban areas and the business community – than any other major environmental organisation in the UK.

It is also particularly important because the more people are inspired, motivated and empowered to value and take action for nature.