IUCN 9 Nov 09;
Cutting-edge science and striking photography are combined in a new book about ecosystem services, biodiversity and human well-being.
Placing a financial value on the services and goods that nature provides is critical to guarantee that ecosystems stay healthy and continue to provide the benefits that all people depend on to survive, leading scientists write in the Wealth of Nature book.
Compiled by CEMEX, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Conservation International (CI), the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) and The Wild Foundation, the book combines more than twenty essays by many of the world’s leading conservation scientists with hundreds of striking full-colour photographs by world renowned nature photographers. It is a celebration of nature’s ecological services and demonstrates in detail how they can contribute to our health, economic prosperity and cultural values.
IUCN Director General, Julia Marton-Lefèvre, who wrote the foreword of the book, said: “We now recognize that the climate will change, posing new challenges and threats to nature. Conserving biodiversity will play a key role in our ability to adapt to these changes. This book is a bridge between negotiations on a climate deal at Copenhagen and the launch of the International Year of Biodiversity in 2010.”
The Wealth of Nature is being unveiled today 9 November at the 9th World Wilderness Congress in Mexico, and is the 17th title in the CEMEX Conservation Book Series.
For more information:
The Wealth of Nature - Ecosystem Services, Biodiversity and Human Well-Being
ISBN-13:978-0-9841686-0-6
Publication date: October 2009
Suggested Retail Price: $58
More info: www.thewealthofnature.org
Photos are available here: http://bit.ly/iVPC9
