摘要
•Ecosystem services of Cape York region have considerable value, which is mostly unaccounted in national accounting systems and in regional planning.•The valuation confirms the world class nature of Cape York Peninsula environments and value of cultural economic services.•Much of the mainstream enterprise on Cape York is sub-optimal.•Disincentives mean there are limited resources to pay for landscape-scale management required.•Payments for ecosystem services include the carbon economy.•Values of ecosystem services can be used to provide an insight into social and economic trade-offs.