Episode Details

In this post I explore how much nature appears to matter to people. I attempt to show that this value is enduring across time and traditions and that it will probably continue to matter to humans into the future.

Nature seems to matter enough for 1% of people globally to donate for the sake of nature and 12% of people spend their vacation time on some form of nature appreciation.

Amount of $ spent:

• Annual spending on biodiversity is around 124 billion dollars-200 billion dollars, with aspirational commitments reaching 700 billion dollars
• As pointed out on this forum, $121 billion per year is spent by the Global Biodiversity Framework coalition, as a lower bound
• Conservation NGOs get between 30-50% of their revenue from individual donation. Total conservation NGO income is ~$8 billion
• $235 billion is spent on ecotourism with 16% CAGR indicating $665 billion will be spent annually by 2030

Amount of people who value nature:

• I estimate 50 million people[1] with a repeat commitment (~100 million people counting spontaneous small donations)
• This is 1% of the global adult population and 2.6% of charitable donors
• 980 million nature tourists, or 67% of all tourists (1.45 billion)

This value seems [...]

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First published:
April 29th, 2026

Source:
https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/SnhKjvKegayx4t4yH/people-really-care-about-something-they-call-nature

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.