Restoring damaged or destroyed ecosystems could create jobs and bring huge investment returns, dpa cited a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as saying today. Released ahead of World Environment Day, the report - entitled "Dead Planet, Living Planet: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration for Sustainable Development" - urges governments and communities to re-think the idea that money invested in the environment is wasted. "Mismanagement of natural and nature-based assets is under-cutting development on a scale that dwarfs the recent economic crisis," Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and UNEP Executive Director said. "Well-planned investments ... in the restoration of these vast, natural and nature-based utilities not only has a high rate of return, but will be central ... to sustainability in a world of rising aspirations, populations, incomes and demands on the Earth's natural resources." Ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and mangroves deliver services - such as waste treatment, coastal protection, pest control and hydropower - worth between 21 and 72 trillion dollars each year, the UNEP report said. The projected loss of ecosystem services could cut world food production by 25 per cent by 2050, according to the report. While the report said that conserving existing ecosystems was cheaper than restoring degraded ones, it pointed out that financial gains could be made from bringing back nature-based services. "Restoration pays off: Wetlands and forests can be up to 22 times more effective than investing in water treatment plants," said Christian Nellemann of UNEP's GRID-Arendal in Norway. The report studied over 30 initiatives, from projects restoring rivers and lakes to those improving soil fertility. One highlighted project - the restoration of grasslands around river systems in South Africa's Drakensberg Mountains - is projected to bring back winter river flows of almost 4 million cubic metres. The project costs 4.5 million dollars over six seven years, with annual management costs of over a million dollars, and could generate up to 7.4 million dollars annually while creating 300 permanent jobs, the report said.
