Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services –Understanding the Economic Value of Nature
Program suited to all high school levels.
Duration: 1.5 hours
Format: Excursion (Excursion locations can take place near your school or at another venue we can arrange to suit your needs. Please contact us for options).
Max Group Size: Please note, for group sizes of over 30 students, an additional educator is required at a cost of $165 per hour for the field excursion.
Ecosystem services are the numerous benefits that nature and its biodiversity provide to humans through the transformations of
resources such as fertile soils, provision of food, raw materials and freshwater, regulation of atmospheric concentrations of oxygen and
greenhouse gases, and protection from floods, storms and erosion, to name a few. Humans would all perish if these ecosystem services
were compromised. Ecosystem services also promote life quality and wellbeing.
In this session, participants gain an understanding of the fundamental principles of ecological economics and learn to attribute economic value to the natural resources and ecosystem services during an interactive, engaging presentation. During our field trip, participants have a first-hand experience by observing, identifying and classifying these ecosystem services as we explore the biodiversity of our coast. We finalise the session with what we call ‘circle time’, in which participants share the insights gained from the session. This session provides an opportunity to focus on the solutions for our current challenges such as climate change, creating models that integrate the social and environmental dimensions to promote sustainable growth for the economy.
