“We need to recognise our dependence on nature”

Having received the 11th Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Ecology, ecologist Gretchen Daily explains in this interview how ecosystem services—the benefits people derive from nature—are fundamental to human well-being and global sustainability. Drawing on her pioneering research on the valuation and conservation of biodiversity, Daily details how integrating nature into economic and public policy decisions can help mitigate the environmental crisis. Her reflections highlight the urgent need to recognize the interdependence between human societies and ecological systems to ensure a more resilient future.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category has gone in this eleventh edition to Gretchen Cara Daily and Georgina Mace, two “visionary” ecologists who have developed vital tools facilitating science-based policies “to combat species loss.”