Abstract:
The paper focuses on the failure to account for the value of standing tropical
forests, and of ecosystem services in general, in economic decision-making.
This blindness to the values of nature has led to overexploitation, degradation
and destruction of tropical forests, which, in turn, has also significantly con-
tributed to greenhouse gas emissions. Forest conservation and restoration has
a critical role to play in the fight against climate change and brings a vast
array of additional benefits, from security in water, energy, food, health
and livelihoods to maintaining biodiversity itself as a core component of
our living planet. As first Minister of Environment and Energy under
President Oscar Arias (1986–1990), I brought these views into societal
decision-making in Costa Rica and here I briefly describe how.
This article is part of the theme issue‘Bringing nature into decision-making’
