The Importance of Ecosystem Services

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an organisation that compiles a red list of species that are being threatened with extinction. This misses the bigger picture, which is that conserving ecological processes should be the goal, not preventing extinction. The ecological processes in an ecosystem (such as the interaction between animals and plants, that allow ecosystems to flourish and provide us with the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat) are the goal of conservation. 

Another mission is REDD+ which aims to reduce deforestation. However, it could be argued that there should have been an emphasis on prevention rather than reduction. Countries such as Gabon have protected the majority of their forests and will not benefit from REDD+ because of that. So the bigger picture should be focused on payment for ecosystem services.