The cost of replacing these indirect uses of biodiversity, even if it were technically possible, would be so high as to render it impossible to duplicate. We also do not know how to quantify these services comprehensively, mainly because most ecosystem services are so poorly understood even now.

Economists are, however, increasingly attempting to place values on such indirect uses of biodiversity. Since indirect use values do not enter directly into human preferences and are often widely and freely available, their value is often ignored and not incorporated into development decisions or national budgets. However, as natural habitats and resources decline, their ecological processes and functions will become scarcer, and their economic values will become more recognised until eventually mechanisms are designed for marketing these services. For instance, there is an increased trend towards establishing user changes for freshwater supply and disposal in developed countries as this commodity becomes, more scarce for human use.

For example sectors such as agriculture, industry and hydro generation requiring a clean accessible supply of water are taxed in China to compensate communities whose development options are constrained by the need to maintain watersheds.