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THE VALUE OF OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

           Scientists and economists recently collaborated in a study of five natural habitats converted for human use and commercial profit. A tropical forest in Malaysia was razed for intensive logging , a tropical forest in Cameroun was converted to oil palm and rubber plantations, a mangrove swamp in Thailand was turned over to shrimp farming, a freshwater marsh in Canada was drained for agriculture, and a coral reef in the Philippines was dynamited for fishing.           The researchers came up with some surprising results. Had those five natural habitats been left in their wild state, their long-term economic value to the community would have been from 14 to 75 percent more than after conversion. In fact, an ecosystem loses, on average, half its value as a result of human interference, and each year, environmental conversion costs $250 billion . By contrast, preserving natural systems would cost $45 billion . The researchers say that goods and services –in the form of