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Authors: Geoff ThorpPublication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2016, Issue N.Z.J.For. 61(4) 2017, pp 45, Jan 2017
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry
Abstract: Forestry’s secret services We foresters know we’re doing God’s work, but we’ve generally been unsuccessful at persuading others to understand that - let alone reward us for it. The feelings generated through doing the right thing continue to be warm, but they don’t pay the rent. Our inability to measure most ‘ecosystem services’ is at the heart of this. The physical parameters of the logs we sell are assessed to narrow tolerances - customers know exactly what they are paying for. To charge for ecosystem services we should reasonably expect to be able to answer questions such as how much cleaner is the water, how many native species are able to thrive, and how much lower will the blood pressure of how many stressed executives be if they ride over how many kilometres of forest trails?