From the peat bogs and woodlands that help to secure our water supply, to the
bees and soils that produce most of the food we eat, Britain is rich in 'natural
capital'. Yet we take supplies of clean water and secure food for granted,
rarely considering the free work nature does for Britain. In fact for years we
have damaged the systems that sustain us under the illusion that we are keeping
prices down, through intensive farming, drainage of bogs, clearing forests and
turning rivers into canals. As Tony Juniper's new analysis shows, however, the
ways in which we meet our needs often doesn't make economic