What’s a forest worth?

Is it just what the land can be sold for?

Or is there a monetary value that a community gains from having woods, which act as a filter to keep water clean, and which take carbon dioxide out of the air and help control climate change.

Do people even think of those issues?

“Some people do,” said Robert Costanza. “But not enough people do.”

Costanza is the director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. His mission in life is trying to determine the economic value of a forest — how it profits a community to have a woods nearby.

“It’s hard to tell people the value of protecting the water supply and erosion control,” said Costanza, who spoke via conference screen and speakerphone to a standing-room-only crowd at The University of Connecticut last week. The event was an all-day conference on the value of forests, sponsored by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association.

Full Story: http://www.newstimes.com/ci_11102396