However, there is a growing recognition of the importance to society that ecological goods and services provide for health, social, cultural, and economic needs.
Examples of ecological services include purification of air and water, maintenance of biodiversity, decomposition of wastes, soil and vegetation generation and renewal, pollination of crops and natural vegetation, groundwater recharge through wetlands, seed dispersal, greenhouse gas mitigation, and aesthetically pleasing landscapes.
Rural and suburban settings are especially important, as lands that are developed and converted from their natural state lose their ecological functions.
A market may be created wherein ecological goods and services are demanded by society and supplied by public and private landowners.
The main tool to accomplish this to date has been to pay farmers directly to set-aside portions of their land that would otherwise be in production.