#444: Biodiversity and ecosystem services

Biodiversity supports ecosystem services that we need for:

🍎food

💧clean water

🏠shelter

And much more.

The Global Biodiversity Framework #KMGBF is the world’s masterplan to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

➡️https://t.co/LIVf44SQmq pic.twitter.com/1omyBC9Dhe

— UN Biodiversity (@UNBiodiversity) April 23, 2025

#130: The Dasgupta Review

"Nature is our home. 

Good economics demands we manage it better."
Professor Partha Dasgupta

The Dasgupta Review was published in 2021.

The Dasgupta Review was an independent, global review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta (Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus, University of Cambridge). 

It is subtitled: The Economics of Biodiversity.

The Review was commissioned in 2019 by HM Treasury and been supported by an Advisory Panel drawn from public policy, science, economics, finance and business.

The Review called for changes in how we think, act and measure economic success to protect and enhance our prosperity and the natural world. 

Grounded in a deep understanding of ecosystem processes and how they are affected by economic activity, the new framework presented by the Review set out how we should account for Nature in economics and decision-making.

There are various video introductions to the report.

This is the longer version of the videom which features a conversation with the lead author and Hetan Shah, who is a former Honorary Vice President of the Geographical Association.

The Report can be downloaded in various formats and languages and also in summary and full forms.

While students may not be expected to have this plonked in front of them, they should certainly be made aware of it, and its key findings.

#61: Valuing Nature from the RGS-IBG

A new resource from the RGS for July 2023.

Valuing Nature is a book about the pressing need for people to value the natural world.

We have made a narrated flick-book-summary for you and your students #geographyteacher

Take a look today, and see if it fits into any schemes of work https://t.co/4N2S6l2L70 pic.twitter.com/NaCgy5hoVk

— RGS-IBG Schools (@RGS_IBGschools) July 28, 2023

Description:

Valuing Nature promotes exactly that, a renewed awareness that we must value the natural world. The book, written by Dr Rob Fish, addresses the growing schism between humans and nature, and encourages us to remember we are one of many elements in ‘the web of life’. Illustrated by Holly McKelvey, the story begins on the fictitious campus of Ostrom University and – through the characters of Aisha, Michael, Sebastian, Chloe, Simone, and Joseph – touches upon the definition of nature and the different approaches we have to it.

The interaction between people and nature is dynamic. It is an ‘assemblage of human and non-human life forms’. Ultimately, it is important to understand that the natural systems of planet Earth make varied and valuable contributions to human wellbeing, and we must cherish and protect them. This is a sustainability concept known as ‘the Ecosystem Services Framework’.

#32: International Day for Biological Diversity

There will perhaps be certain days when the teaching of the GCSE Natural History will refer to a particular designation.

22nd of May is designated by UNESCO as International Day for Biological Diversity.

There is reference made to the international report in this area.

There is plenty to discover here.

A case study of Guarani knowledge, for example.