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The natural world and human well-being

Although modern lives can often seem to be removed from nature, all people depend on benefits from the natural world for their well-being and survival:

• the natural world is essential for food production – marine systems provide fish, insects pollinate crops and living creatures form soils and keep them fertile
• natural wetlands store and purify water, remove harmful pollutants, and can help defend against floods
• around 50 per cent of all prescription medicines are based on chemicals from plants and animals
• natural areas and green spaces provide peace and quiet, and places for recreation and relaxation

What are these benefits worth?

Putting a monetary value on the benefits people get from the natual world helps show how important they are. One study estimated the global value of the natural world at between 16 and 34 trillion US dollars per year.

Tackling poverty

The poorest people in the world often rely most immediately on the natural environment for their survival. Damage to the natural world has been identified as a major barrier to tackling extreme poverty. Goals like the campaign to ‘make poverty history’ are closely tied up with looking after natural systems.

What’s happening to the natural world

People‘s demand for food, water, energy and materials - and the resulting waste - is damaging the natural world because it leads to problems like:

• change to natural habitats, including clearing forests to grow food
• too much being taken from natural systems to allow them to replenish – for example, fish are being caught faster than they can be replaced
• pollution entering the natural environment faster than it can be broken down
• greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change

In 1961, the human population used around half of the benefits that the earth’s natural systems can keep providing year after year. By 2001, people were using 20 per cent more than the world can provide without natural systems becoming damaged or depleted. As a result, over half of the main benefits provided by the natural world show signs of decline. This includes its ability to break down waste that people produce, purify water, and provide natural fisheries.

• Climate change: a quick guide

Why it matters

Human pressures are undermining the natural world’s ability to keep providing essential benefits, with serious implications for people’s well-being everywhere:

Intensive farming in the UK can contribute to climate change
Intensive farming has seriously damaged peatlands, which are an important store for carbon. Drainage and other damage releases the carbon they store. The  resulting CO2 emissions can be at least as important for climate change as cars and airplanes.

In the UK over-fishing can lead to job losses
Over-fishing has led to at least 70 per cent of UK fish stocks declining in their ability to keep producing more fish. This has important implications for local jobs and economies.

Worldwide, many commercial fisheries could collapse
Three quarters of wild marine fisheries are fully or over-exploited. Estimates suggest that many of the world's commercial fisheries are likely to have collapsed in less than 50 years unless current trends are reversed.

Global losses of animals and plants threaten human medicines
Between 10 and 50 per cent of many well-known groups of animals and plants are in danger of extinction. This includes hundreds of plants from which important medicines are made.

Water pollution can kill off wildlife in the UK
Most freshwater in England is affected by nutrient enrichment from farming and sewage. This can stimulate algae growth, which can reduce oxygen levels and kill off plants and animals.

Globally, pollution has made some fish unsafe to eat
Pollution is now so widespread that almost every marine animal in the world is thought to be contaminated with man-made chemicals. Some of these chemicals are harmful to people, so certain fish cannot be eaten safely by women planning to get pregnant, or by children.

What you can do

You can make a difference

There is a lot that you can do in your everyday life to help

The natural world is a British passion. Last year, viewing figures for Springwatch (a programme about British wildlife) rivaled those of Big Brother. But it can sometimes be hard to see how a single person can make a difference.

The damage is ultimately being caused by people’s everyday demands. So, by thinking about your everyday actions, there is a lot you can do. Follow the link below to find out what you can do to make a difference.

• How you can help look after the natural world