The very diversity of life ensures that valuing nature and wildlife is hugely different for each of us, and for many of us it’s based on how, as children, we are introduced to nature.

Millions of children have grown up in the last few years watching with nerve-wracked excitement as Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) president Steve Backshall grapples with deadly animals such as snakes and giant squid. Inspirational television makes wildlife ‘cool’. Older readers may remember Tony Soper, the first cameraman in the BBC Natural History Unit, and his literally ground-breaking television programmes in the Look series, a gentle and informative introduction to the wider world of nature beyond the garden gate. Between Tony Soper and Steve Backshall there are countless naturalists, scientists and knowledgeable amateurs who have broadcast and written about wildlife in the UK and around the world, inspiring generations of people to care as much for their garden bumblebees as for Bhutanese tigers. It’s all very well to know that we should care for wildlife, but do we value it — and, if so, how can we put value on nature and wildlife? Sometimes valuing something means putting a price on it. As Tony Juniper pointed out in a recent The Oxford Times article, ‘the nation’s development policies assume nature to be, in an economic sense, largely worthless’. Making sure that policies consider what is being referred to as ‘natural capital’ can allow decision-making to consider the long-term impacts more completely. But valuations can be tricky; are the ancient woodlands of Bernwood Forest and the Chilterns more valuable than wildflower meadows of the Thames floodplains?

Is the value of woods intrinsic within their sheer beauty and the diversity of the wildlife that make their homes among ancient trees; the way our hearts skip a beat as we turn a corner to inhale the rich scent from a carpet of bluebells?

Are the floodplain meadows of the Upper Thames and Upper Ray just fantastic wildflower-filled havens for wading birds, or can we also put an economic value on them as natural sponges soaking up rainwater to help prevent flooding downstream? Tony will be speaking at BBOWT’s annual conference on October 19, the theme of which is Wildlife in the Balance. I look forward to hearing his views on how the natural world supports the economy and how we must ensure the true value, not just the price, of these precious places is taken into account. It’s not always the beautiful things that are the most valuable. Ask any gardener, farmer or naturalist what they value about their land, and they’ll probably say the quality of the soil. More than 90per cent of our food and just about every type of wildlife from the tiniest shrew to a golden eagle depend on functioning soil. That means a vast army of nematodes, microbes and worms are wriggling and munching their way through earth: absorbing, composting and aerating the soil. How do we value them?

When fields are developed as Oxfordshire’s towns expand, it may add value to the local economy in the short-term; but those fields (filled with worm armies) will not be around any more to grow food, become woodland, absorb rainwater and be a vital wildlife habitat.

BBOWT’s vision is to create a region rich in wildlife valued by all, and that means inspiring the next generation of nature lovers who, with the help of earthworms and other mini-beasts, are discovering wildlife for themselves. Nature Tots, the sessions for toddlers and their parents and carers at Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre near Didcot, is where the next Steve Backshalls and David Attenboroughs are learning through play.

They are collecting beetles from old tree trunks, making piles of autumn leaves and wondering how earthworms know which way to go when they burrow into the dirt.