CostingNature : Using Google EarthCostingNature is a system to value the services provided to humanity by protected areas. Here we quantify the proportion of water in the world’s rivers that originates from protected areas and the number of people drinking water from protected areas. Water from protected areas is often purer and better regulated than water that comes from agricultural land or urban surfaces. Water is one of the many ‘environmental services’ provided by nature to humankind and understanding the importance of these helps focus resources of the protection of the ecosystems that provide those services.To use: 1. Click the link to the Google Earth desktop version and open the KML file that downloads into Google Earth. If you do not have Google Earth installed then download and install from earth.google.com. Once loaded into Google Earth you will see the data layers. Zoom in by dragging the map and using the zoom slider (top right) or double clicking the point that you want to zoom to or using the wheel of your wheel mouse. (or click the max. zoom link). As you zoom into the surface, more and more detailed data will appear. 2. The embedded GE browser plugin version is similar except that access to the layers is from a series of buttons at the top and the zoom and go to location and go to choice features are available. On first use this version requires a download and installation. |