What's a tree worth (technically, it's $0)
On the impossible task of quantifying the value of nature in a world that measures everything in economic terms.
A few years ago I was contracted to help create the brand and messaging for a new climate fund. A couple of ex-bankers, perhaps feeling guilty for their past crimes, decided they wanted to do something good for the world and climate seemed the most urgent issue they could help with1.
They explained to me that the problem with nature is that it has no value. Sensing my desire to explode in protest they quickly elaborated that - get this - economically speaking there is no way to value a living tree as worth more than a dead one. No equation currently exists that can put an economic value on a living tree, but as soon as you cut it down you create a chain of value that can easily be measured:
The landowner makes money from the logging company
The logging company makes money from the timber merchant
The timber merchant makes money from the carpenter
The carpenter makes money from the furniture retailer
And the furniture retailer makes money from the consumer
A dead tree creates multiple transactions, taxes, revenue, jobs. What does a living tree do? Sure, it may clean the air, sequester carbon, hold top soil in place, protect us from flood waters and provide habitats for creatures large and small, but how many transactions does that create? How much revenue does it drive? How much tax does it pay? That’s the problem you see? The value of a living tree cannot be measured in economic terms so it is, technically speaking, worthless.
WTF?
I mention this now because on the island on which I live, one of the most densely populated on earth, where 1-in-3 workers are suffering stress or burnout, a battle is raging for one of the few unspoiled areas of nature we have remaining.
To fit its current 6.1 million people on an island measuring just 287.4 square miles Singapore has, understandably, had to encroach upon nature both by cutting forests and reclaiming land from marine environments. Thus far any opposition has come almost exclusively from environmental activists, but this time something’s different. This potential deforestation has sparked public imagination in a way that I have never seen before, and when I went down there to see for myself, resident Jo Teo agreed:
“There is a groundswell of support to preserve Maju…there have been professionals, families, elderlies, students, youngsters, all chipping in, contributing their experiences, skills, encouragement to, in a way, to forge a voice.”
Jo Teo, Clementi Resident
Whilst investigating the forest first hand I also spoke with a couple of hikers I bumped into; Jaslyn who simply concluded, “As there is less and less forest, more and more people care.” And Roy, an architecture student, who seemed to feel the impending loss personally when he looked out over the jungle and told me, “Taking this is like taking a part of you.”
Majulah, Maju Forest!
The area they were all talking about is called Maju Forest and it’s just 0.089 square miles in size, yet it contains 286 different species of plant and 113 different animals including the critically endangered straw-headed bulbul and the sunda pangolin.
The Singapore government intends to develop roughly two-thirds of this forest for public housing leaving just 0.031 square miles for the wildlife. That’s concerning enough but, right now, I don’t think that’s the only thing on people’s minds. In fact I think it’s just the latest in a long list of concerns that has been growing throughout 2026. Let me explain…
Although this area has been slated for development since the 1980s as part of Singapore’s Master Plan, the consultation comes at a moment when Singaporeans are less engaged and, according to Gallup, more burned out than ever, when La Niña threatens to push our tropical temperatures up even further, when the cost of air conditioning is constantly climbing, when France, Spain, Scotland and Canada are burning and Trump wants to, “Drill baby, drill!”.
It comes at a moment when the leaders of the American AI death cult want to blanket the world in energy-burning, water-guzzling data-centres and I think we’re finally starting to say, “enough is enough”!
But we gotta keep growing right? What’s good for the economy is good for the country right? Well, let’s try looking at it another way. We know, for a cast iron fact, that access to nature makes people happier, healthier and less stressed and that people under those conditions are more productive. So, if we absolutely have to put a price on the value of nature, that’s one equation we can do. Or we can look at it from a cost-saving perspective, Singapore’s government spends about $385million on mental health initiatives when one of the best cures is already there, situated in the middle of our island and costing nothing. But if Maju Forest disappears, it stands to reason that mental health spending must increase to compensate for its absence.
The bottom line is, less than 20% our island is covered in nature. We can’t afford much less than that if we want to retain our title as a “garden city”, and it’s not only Maju Forest that is under threat. About 10 hectares of green space around Gillman Barracks is slated for development too, but it’s not too late to have your say!
What can you do?
If you are concerned about the eradication of our small, remaining reserves of nature you can have your say BEFORE 6TH AUGUST below and, despite what some outside of our island might think about out democratic institutions, our government has listened in the past and is open to hearing from us again.
In 2021 Dover Forest plans were revised after around 1,800 people gave feedback to the Housing Development Board (HDB). And back in the 1980s conservationists created a conservation plan that saved Sungei Buloh wetlands, our first and only wetlands reserve, home to majestic monitor lizards, crocodiles and an oasis for migrating birds.
What I’m saying is we still have a chance and all it takes from you is the click of a button and, if you want, a few words to the HDB about the value of nature to you, your family and our country:
Sign the petition to save Maju Forest: LINK TO PETITION
Tell HDB to save Maju Forest: LINK TO FORM
Sign the petition to save Gillman Barracks Forest: LINK TO PETITION
Tell HBD to save Gillman Barracks Forest: LINK TO FORM
We are not a part FROM nature, we are a part OF nature. Save the forests and save yourselves too. Thank you.
To Do List
My recommendations for new things to read, watch, look at, listen to and do this week:
DO: Pann Lim is Singapore’s most-awarded Creative Director yet he is humble enough to have returned to college to get his Masters of Arts in Design after 30 years in the biz. Part of his final thesis is an exhibition at Basheer Books in Bras Basah Complex entitled ‘The Life and Death of The Soul of Human Design’ - what could be more Pro-Human? I visited yesterday and left with a beautiful piece of affordable art, ‘The Human Skull of a Graphic Designer’ presented in a box reminiscent of the Airfix kits I assembled as a kid. Inside the box is a DIY designer skull and Pann’s thesis on the ‘Eleven Dimensions of the Human Soul of Design’, a framework defining what remains irreplaceably human in creative practice in the age of A.I. See it, buy it, read it, love it!
WATCH: Jack Conte, founder of Patreon and one half of indie band Pomplamoose, says what we’re all thinking and out loud and with great gusto at his SXSW keynote - an annual must watch!
READ: So much to read this week so here is just a bunch of links to pick from:
Right, that’ll do ya! Cheers, Nx
Their fund intended to turn nature into a investible asset that would sit on the balance sheets of businesses and drive a modest return through premium carbon credits generated by ethical land management practices.