Reef worth €8trn in ‘services to people’

Earth Index report shows bees contribute €144bn to economy

Coral reefs are worth £6trn (€8trn) a year in services they provide for people, almost four times as much as the UK economy, an assessment of the value of natural assets has found.

The Earth Index drawn up for BBC Earth also found bees contributed £106bn (€144bn) to the world economy in pollinating crops, and that vultures were worth £1.6bn for clearing up animal carcasses and preventing human health hazards.