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Nature's Contribution to People

Up to two-thirds of all crops require some degree of animal pollination to reach their maximum yields, and natural habitat around farmlands can support healthy populations of wild pollinators by providing them with foraging and nesting resources. More

Fertilizers like nitrogen are a major source pollution to freshwater systems and drinking water. However, some of it may be retained by healthy ecosystems, regulating drinking water quality to downstream populations. More

Coastal habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, salt marsh, or sea grass, attenuate waves and protect the shorelines from the impacts of storms, such as floods and erosion. More

Pollination Key Areas

Nature's Contributions →

People's Needs →

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How to read these maps

These maps highlight the areas where Nature's Contribution to People (NCP) is key: where many people are exposed to high pressures requiring potential benefits (e.g pollution loads, coastal risks, or pollination-dependent crops), and nature’s contributions are highest. In these regions (shown in black), ecosystem protection will likely provide the greatest benefits.


Areas where people’s needs coincide with lower contributions of nature indicate benefit gaps, highlighting potential opportunities for ecosystem restoration to boost NCP – or areas where other investments beyond nature may be necessary to ensure well-being (shown in dark pink)..


Finally, areas where nature's contributions are relatively high, despite a relatively low "need" (either because there is little biophysical pressure, such as little pollution, or because population density is low) are colored in green.