The department's 197-page report, Benefits and Costs of Biodiversity in Ireland , calculates that its marginal value is worth at least €2.6 billion per annum - much more than the costs involved in maintaining it for the benefit of society, including human health and well-being. These include removing dead matter and releasing nutrients back to the soil. As Charles Darwin wrote: "It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures".
