Evaluer, quantifier la nature et donner un prix (avec du vrai argent) aux écosystèmes : est-ce bien raisonnable ?
Heureusement, les « Critters » (membres de la liste des géographes critiques pour les intimes), fidèles sentinelles, veillent au grain !
Est arrivé un beau matin sur la liste ce petit message d’apparence anodine, un comme on en reçoit plein toute la journée, l’annonce d’une petite conférence à Londres...
Putting a Price on the Priceless: Valuing Nature? The importance of protecting and conserving our natural landscapes and ecology
Organised jointly by the British Ecological Society (BES) and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG):
There is great interest amongst scientists, economists and policy-makers in the possibility of quantifying the value of the nature. Without putting a price, economic or otherwise, on natural assets, underpinning the delivery of life-support services (‘ecosystem services’) essential to humankind, so the argument goes, nature is ignored in decision-making, becoming ever-more degraded. But what difference is an emphasis on valuation making to the practical conservation of biodiversity and landscape management? How is valuation affecting business decisions and consumer choices? Is there the scientific evidence base to underpin these developments? And finally, is it moral to put a price on nature at all?
Il n’en a pas fallu plus pour que Nicholas James alerte ses amis Critters :
Someone yesterday told me that this event was “dangerous” and from the neo-liberal agenda!
I don’t want to necessarily stir things up but wondered why this was being suggested by an otherwise left-leaning environmentalist.
Whatmore is a respected [critical] geographer, yes? Harrabin a well-known Guardian journalist.
Do not know the others. Are we also unpacking the debates between neo-classical environmental economics and deep green ecological economics? Any help to figure this out would be welcome...
Margi Bryant, de l’Université de Sheffield, rebondit la première :
The concept of valuing nature as “ecosystem services” may indeed be deeply neo-liberal and arguably dangerous, although it’s now become pervasive at local, national and global levels. However, I can’t see what’s wrong with an event that sets out to dissect and discuss this approach.
Critters readers may remember that a while ago Dr Hilary Geoghehan compiled a list of references looking at ecosystem services through a critical social science lens.
And do not forget to consult the “State of Natural Capital Report 2013”
▻http://www.defra.gov.uk/naturalcapitalcommittee/files/State-of-Natural-Capital-Report-2013.pdf
Sophie Wynne-Jones de l’observatoire rural du Pays de Galle indique deux références très intéressante :
“The economics of biodiversity why it matters” and “The Common Cause report”
by Tom Crompton
▻http://valuesandframes.org/the-economics-of-biodiversity-and-why-it-matters
Kelvin Mason, de l’école d’aménagement et de géographie de cardiff, en rajoute en conseillant cet opus de George Monbiot :
The Great Impostors
In the name of saving the natural world, governments are privatising it.
published in the Guardian 7th August 2012
“The first man who, having enclosed a piece of ground, bethought himself of saying ‘this is mine’, and found people simple enough to believe him, was the real founder of civil society.George Monbiot’s article on ecosystem services
▻http://www.monbiot.com/2012/08/06/the-great-impostors
Et in extremis, une dernière référence, payante :
Ecosystem services : Tensions, impurities, and points of engagement within neoliberalism
Jessica Dempsey
University of Washington, USA
▻http://phg.sagepub.com/content/36/6/758.short
Mais l’adresse magique, la voilà : le site désormais endormi depuis 2005, mais toujours très riche du « Millenium Ecosystem Assessment » auquel j’ai eu le plaisir de participer :
11 rapports complets sur la question, quelques chapitres avec tout ce que vous avez toujours voulu savoir sur les services rendus par les écosystèmes et comment les évaluer financièrement sans jamais oser le demander. C’est là --->
►http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/thumbs/1805c933-493c-4b85-be16-ad06eb342332/medium/locations-reported-by-various-studies-as-undergoing-high-rates-of-land-cover-change-in-the-past-few-decades_fe3b.jpg 
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/thumbs/1805c933-493c-4b85-be16-ad06eb342332/medium/economic-benefits-under-alternate-management-practices_1496.jpg 
http://www.grida.no/graphicslib/thumbs/1805c933-493c-4b85-be16-ad06eb342332/medium/annual-flow-of-benefits-from-forests-in-selected-countries_10b2.jpg 
#écosystèmes #services_écosystèmes #environnement #néolibéralisme #géographie_critique
