Preserve value of natural world: Lord Stern

Shobana Kesava, Straits Times 11 Apr 08;

WHEN Lord Nicholas Stern and his team released a groundbreaking report on the economic cost of climate change in 2006, it sent reverberations through governments concerned about the bottom line.

Now, a new series of reports on the value of the natural world might soon change the way nations view conservation.

While few details are known, the reports could look at how the economy would be affected by the extinction of things like medicinal plants and as yet undiscovered animals.

Lord Stern, who was an adviser to the British government from 2003 till last year, expects a number of reports to be ready in a year or so, but said they would be harder to do than the report on climate change.

'Valuing the benefits of biodiversity is quite difficult in their full magnitude,' he said. 'But weighing the costs and benefits of maintaining biodiversity is vital.'

He declined to reveal who will write the next report and said he would have only a minor role in its production.

'I think what they will show is that... investing in maintaining biodiversity and allowing forests to grow and flourish will be very wise,' he said.