What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?
20 April 2013
Here at WWT London Wetland Centre we’re well aware of the value of wetlands to people and wildlife. As well as providing a home for a huge range of plants and animals, and food and raw materials for people, wetlands undertake a variety of hidden ‘services’ for the planet including water purification, carbon absorption, flood prevention and drought relief. In fact, the services provided by nature as a whole – everything from Indian vultures to Chinese bees and from soil microbes to ocean plankton – keep the global economy going. No nature, no economy.
Recycling miracles in the soil, an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests, an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food and drink, pharmaceutical industries and much more: it has been estimated that these and other services are each year worth about double global GDP. But these services are not limitless. Did you know that one third of the world’s farmed soil has degraded since the mid 20th century? Or that the area of forest cleared between 2000 and 2010 is larger than Germany?
This talk will be full of immediate, impactful stories, containing warnings but also positive news – and encouragement for those of us working to conserve our planet’s natural systems and wildlife.
£5 plus paid admission to the Centre. Booking essential: please call 020 8409 4400 to book your place. Tony will also be signing copies of his new book What has nature ever done for us, which will be available for sale on the day.
More information here
Location:
WWT London Wetland Centre
Queen Elizabeth’s Walk Barnes
London SW19 9WT
United Kingdom
See map: Google Maps
Date:
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Time:
2pm