La Défense, Île-de-France, France

Credit: Richard Lilley

Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes targeting multiple ecosystem services are increasingly being touted as a potential solution to unlocking the financial flows that are required to address the biodiversity funding gap (the biodiversity financing gap is the gap between the current total annual capital flows toward global biodiversity conservation and the total amount of funds needed to sustainably manage biodiversity and maintain ecosystems integrity.)

By understanding the true value of natural assets and biodiversity, it is possible to find ways to invest in them. Governments need to put in place the right regulatory environment, smart incentives and market structures
to catalyze financial flows from the private sector into biodiversity
conservation.

As scientists we need to provide the robust, place-based data on which these schemes are being developed.