PROVISIONING SERVICES are products or services of nature that we use directly. Raw materials such as food, drinking water, wood, cotton, energy sources (fuel) but also basic medical materials.
REGULATING SERVICES control the climate and precipitation, offer us clean air and drinking water, protect against erosion and flooding, store carbon, break down pollutants and guarantee the important pollination of plants.
HABITAT SERVICES include processes such as the formation of fertile soil, photosynthesis and securing the nutrient cycle.
Despite technological progress and artificial intelligence, mankind cannot replicate this.
CULTURAL SERVICES are of substantial importance for human well-being. For example for health, safety, good social relationships and basic material supplies.
They create identity and ensure high leisure and recreational value.
Foto: BCG / Pro-Natur
Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital
Biodiversity influences and regulates all fundamental processes of the earth system such as soil formation, photosynthesis, climate, water, air and nutrient cycles. It is the indispensable basis for securing the basis of life for all living beings and thus also for all of humanity.
The diverse ecosystems provide ecosystem services for all living beings on earth.
For people, these form the social, cultural and economic basis of existence.
Natural capital includes the sum of all ecosystem services as well as the planet's finite supply of physical and biological resources.
Four basic types of ecosystem services can be distinguished
(Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005)
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PROVISIONING SERVICES
These are products or services of nature that we use directly. Basic and raw materials such as food, drinking water, wood, cotton, energy sources (fuel) but also medical raw materials.
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HABITAT SERVICES
These include processes such as the formation and provision of fertile soil, photosynthesis (the ability to convert inorganic material into organic matter) and securing the nutrient cycle. Despite technological progress and artificial intelligence, mankind cannot replicate these achievements.
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REGULATING SERVICES
The diversity of ecosystems regulates climate and precipitation, ensures air and water quality, protects us from floods and soil erosion, stores or breaks down pollutants and guarantees the pollination of plants.
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CULTURAL SERVICES
These are services that are of substantial importance for human well-being. For example, health, security, good social relationships, but also basic material needs. They create identity and ensure high leisure and recreational value.
The principle of "expansion and extraction" comes to an end when nature and its ecosystems are deprived of the ability to regenerate reliably.
(Maja Göpel - transformation researcher, sustainability expert and social scientist)