Scientists have proposed to create a ‘species stock market’ (SSM) to assign value to wildlife and put a cost on actions which put them at risk, such as deforestation and pollution.
A team of Estonian and Swedish researchers evaluated the idea in a recent study, which would act as a unified basis for instantaneous valuation.
While species wouldn’t be traded like in normal transactions, the concept of ‘selling’ would refer to processes that would erase them from specific areas.
Herd of elephants near trees
The lead author of the study and a Professor at Estonia’s University The SSM would be able to put a price tag on such transactions, and the price could be thought of as an invoice that the seller needs to settle in some way that benefits global biodiversity.
On the other hand, actions that benefit biodiversity would be seen as ‘buying’ on the SSM, with ‘money’ representing an investment in wildlife.
The By rooting such actions in a unified valuation system, it is hoped that goodwill actions will become increasingly difficult to dodge and dismiss.
While two million species have so far been identified, it’s thought millions remain discovered, so the SSM relies on ‘digital species’.
These are representations of discovered wildlife and described species which are thought to exist based on DNA sequences and based on knowledge of their habitat, ecology, distribution, interactions with other species and functional traits.
To find this information, global scientific and societal resources are used, including natural history collections, sequence databases, and life science data portals.
Researchers behind the SSM have suggested it be managed by the international associations of taxonomists
Non-trivial complications are foreseen when implementing the SSM in practice, but we argue that the most realistic and tangible way out of the looming biodiversity crisis is to put a price tag on species and thereby a cost to actions that compromise them.
No human being will make direct monetary profit out of the SSM, and yet it’s all Earth’s inhabitants – including humans – that could benefit from its pointers.
There are discussions about dissolving Natural England taking place in government, leaving many environmental campaigners concerned about how this could affect future policy.
According to a Guardian article, activists discovered a proposal buried in a recent government consultation for the integration of the advising body into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Experts worry this could mark the end of the conservation watchdog, originally set up in 2006, meaning there will be less scrutiny of policies regarding wildlife and nature.
Forest trees
The body has already lost its independence under the Conservative government and is chronically underfunded after years of financial cuts.
Natural England is responsible for protecting important wildlife areas, paying farmers to protect wildlife and advising on planning applications.
The body also oversees the restoration of natural areas which can store carbon, such as peatlands, wetlands and woodlands.
It is led by Friends of the Earth campaigner Tony Juniper, however, he has not criticized the proposed plans, and has instead suggested an overarching nature strategy
Craig Bennett, the chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, told the Guardian the government was wasting time and money on this when it should be focused on delivering nature targets set out in the Environment Act.
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