Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are benefits, or services, provided by natural ecosystem, such as:
Reduced flooding, improved water quality, increased groundwater recharge, improved air quality, enhanced aesthetics, enhanced property values.
Cheaper to protect these services than to mimic them
Forests provide many of these services
Center for Watershed Protection has compiled research showing the cost of treating drinking water decreases with an increase in watershed forest cover. This graph shows the cost in dollars per Million Gallons of water treated is higher when there is less forest cover. This is why many municipalities are looking to conserve forests in the headwaters of water supply watersheds. It is an extremely cost-effective way to provide clean drinking water.
