Hello again fellows and friends! What has the planet done for you today? As I briefly mentioned in my last post, the focus of the upcoming EcoSummit 2012 is ecosystem services. Often confused with natural resources, ecosystem services are somewhat difficult to define and even harder to truly understand. Unlike natural resources they are generally not comprised of things that can be extracted from the earth and converted into fuel, currency or anything else that we humans dig into the earth for. Ecosystem services provide life sustaining benefits. Some examples are the natural pest control provided by birds, bats and larger insects which keep insect populations in check and prevent the spread of diseases, the natural water filtration and flood prevention provided by wetlands, and the pollination of plants and flowers by bees and hummingbirds. The ecosystem services are vital in maintaining the delicate balance our planet needs to function properly, yet unsurprisingly they are being rapidly depleted, largely through human activity. Our bees are dying off, our wetlands are being drained and built over (Ohio has lost approximately 90% of its wetlands) and our rainforests are being razed. According to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (the world’s largest audit on the conditions and trends in the planet’s ecosystems) our ecosystems have declined more rapidly over the past fifty years than in the history of mankind.

So what do we do? Unfortunately there’s not a particularly easy solution (at least not that I’ve come across so far in my research but I’ll be sure to keep you posted). There are a number of organizations working to renew and restore the ecosystem services that have been lost, but as you might imagine it’s far easier to destroy a rainforest than it is to build a new one. EcoSummit 2012 will attempt to directly respond to these problems by bringing together great and powerful minds, captains of industry and world leaders so that they might unite in finding solutions to our planet’s most pressing issues. As human beings (particularly those of us living in developed nations) we far too often take for granted that the basic necessities of life will always be provided for us; clean water, fresh air, regular food supplies, etc. Unfortunately our addiction to mass consumption is rapidly destroying the ecosystem services which ensure the creation and sustaining of that which we truly need to survive.

If you would like to learn more about ecosystem services and the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment I highly recommend looking on their website at http://www.maweb.org/en/index.aspx. I’ll continue discussing what ecosystem services are, who should care about them and what is already being done to help on this blog as I learn more.

Bailey-Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission