By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada’s National Observer Canada’s healthy oceans are worth billions more than what can simply be extracted from them. Oceans and coastal ecosystems generated at minimum $7.1 billion in benefits in 2023, new figures from Statistics Canada suggest. The study is part of the federal government’s efforts to value more of the advantages nature can offer to people and communities. By estimating the monetary value of marine “ecosystem services”, the federal government is taking a new approach to quantifying the often ignored perks that oceans provide — such as clean water, wildlife or climate benefits — in addition to measuring the revenue from traditional resource industries like fishing, explained McGill University professor Brian Robinson, an expert in ecosystem services. “It makes these things visible…
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