[ Norway ] Forests in northern nations such as Russia and Canada are worth $250 billion a year because of services they provide by purifying water or soaking up greenhouse gases, a researcher said on Tuesday. Mark Anielski, an ecological economist based in Edmonton, Canada, urged governments to follow suit and place value on natural services rather than go on treating them as free. “We only realise what nature is worth when it ‘ s gone,” he told Reuters of a study he presented to a forestry congress in Canada about the value of forests in Alaska , Russia , the Nordic nations and Canada . It estimated that services provided by intact forests in filtering water and waste, providing habitats for animals and plants, capturing greenhouse gases and attracting tourists were worth about $250 billion a year. “If these ecosystem services were counted in Canada , they would amount to roughly 9 percent of GDP,” he said.

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