For too long many have regarded a healthy environment as a nice to have, with the loss of wildlife, damage to ecosystems and pollution of air and water as regrettable, but nonetheless inevitable, and the price we must pay for progress. Modern science tells us, however, that this is a very dangerous misconception, with damage to the biosphere and atmosphere now reaching dangerous levels to the point where our entire social and economic systems are at risk. From pollination of crops to the purification of water and from the capture of carbon to the inspiration for cutting edge technologies, Nature supports our wellbeing at every turn, and protecting the natural systems that do all this and much more is now a top global priority. All sectors of society have a role in seeking solutions, but first we need a change of perspective, to see healthy and intact Nature as the most important asset that humankind has, rather than as now where it is mainly seen as a source of resources and place to dump waste.

About Tony's book

From Indian vultures to Chinese bees, Nature provides the 'natural services' that keep the economy going. From the recycling miracles in the soil; an army of predators ridding us of unwanted pests; an abundance of life creating a genetic codebook that underpins our food, pharmaceutical industries and much more, it has been estimated that these and other services are each year worth about double global GDP. Yet we take most of Nature's services for granted, imagining them free and limitless ... until they suddenly switch off.

This is a book full of immediate, impactful stories, containing both warnings (such as in the tale of India's vultures, killed off by drugs given to cattle, leading to an epidemic of rabies) but also the positive (how birds protect fruit harvests, coral reefs protect coasts from storms and how the rainforests absorb billions of tonnes of carbon released from cars and power stations).

Tony Juniper's book will change whole way you think about life, the planet and the economy.