Most of us are not in the business of buying elephants, whales or earthworms and therefore we don’t tend to consider how much one might be worth or what our relationship with them might be.

Normally, we deem them the subject matter of TV documentaries, visits to zoos or wildlife parks or as memories of digging in the earth as kids. Most likely we have never thought of them as having important economic and social value, but they most certainly do.

Although the majority of our dominant ‘development’ models ignore or downplay it, at present more than half of the value of global GDP – about US$44 trillion - is dependent on the diverse spread and effective functioning of the planet’s biodiversity.  This form of capital gifted to us from nature directly supports human development in a variety of important ways. 

This capital includes the value of forests (and by no means just trees), wetlands, oceans, bees, earthworms, flowers and, of course animals such as the abovementioned worms, elephants, and whales. 

Despite this, our economies and societies continue to disregard and abuse nature while simultaneously paying lip-service to protecting and nurturing nature.  Like so many other countries, governments and international institutions, Malta is no exception to this damaging pattern.

Here, our respect for nature is more honoured in the breach than in the observance.  Nature is just a ‘freebie’ available to us in our blind gallop for wealth. Our economics and politics do not allow for the inclusion of the ‘free’ services of nature in any of our calculations.  Because there appears to be no cost, then such services must, by definition be free. Or so our lazy non-thinking encourages us to believe. 

If we were to properly include them, the real cost of most goods and services would be significantly higher. Environmentalists have argued this for well over a century, but the dominance of crude, mechanistic economics and a rapacious model of growth have sidelined or undermined them. 

But, back to the elephant – recent studies have estimated that each forest elephant is actually worth at least US$1.75m. Often described as ‘mega-gardeners’ of the forest, elephants should be highly valued because of their ability to boost carbon stocks and disperse vital, life-giving nutrients. 

Each whale is estimated to be worth at least $2m for its potential to limit greenhouse gases and carbon emissions. A host of studies have also attempted to calculate the economic value of many dimensions of nature – including earthworms - and their pivotal role in our ecosystems.   

While the figures quoted above are what grab headlines (and often cheap and cynical ridicule), the methodologies behind the studies highlight the multi-layered and multi-faceted relationship between nature and humanity. 

In our anthropocentric world, the studies also reveal that nature does not simply exist to serve us but is intrinsically valuable in and of itself. Nature is the bedrock of all life and not just human life.

Despite all this, many species, including the elephant, remain critically endangered.

If forest elephants were to become extinct, an immediate result would be the loss of about 7% of carbon stores, equivalent to emissions generated by more than 2 billion petrol-powered cars over the course of a year. 

But what has all this got to do with Malta, you might ask? The answer is a lot. If nature doesn’t feature in Malta’s dominant plans, Malta most certainly does in nature’s agenda.

Most immediately, as environmental awareness (and damage) increases, Maltese people are increasingly realising (even if they do not effectively act on it) that the services of nature are not ‘free’ and that ignoring or abusing them has considerable negative consequence.

In recent surveys, especially among younger people, environmental concerns have been prioritised. Sadly, this has not translated into the thinking or behaviour of our government or dominant business tycoons.

At another level entirely, Malta’s Environment and Resources Authority National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to 2023 has hinted at the country’s biodiversity challenges and how they threaten ‘our society, our culture, our prosperity, and our planet’.

The plan also outlines the key principles that should ideally guide policy and action. These include what all Maltese know intuitively – intergenerational equity, that polluters should pay, that human rights are key as are the eight dimensions of good governance. The challenges Malta faces demand a ‘whole of government’ and ‘whole of society’ perspective alongside international cooperation.

The plan ticks all the boxes. But is it just another box-ticking exercise to mimic concern?

Malta does indeed have its own elephants. While they may not be worth US$1.75 million each, they are nonetheless just as valuable. Perhaps we will only realise just how valuable when they are gone. The signs do not suggest optimism.