Policies to protect and restore Qatar’s natural environment must be informed by sufficient knowledge on how local ecosystems function. They must also be informed by an understanding of the costs of action against the potential costs of inaction. This chapter introduces the economic argument for policy intervention to protect and restore Qatar’s environment and formulates recommendations for creating a sound evidence base to inform environmental policy in Qatar. The chapter begins with a brief historical account of how nature, initially considered a provider of free commodities, was gradually introduced into how we think about economic systems, and how this informs the latest perspectives on sustainable development and sustainability. The chapter then discusses the theory and practice of economic valuation of ecosystems and the services they provide, and applies these ideas to Qatar. After situating Qatar’s environmental protection and restoration ambitions in the context of existing national policy, the chapter provides a review of existing knowledge on Qatar’s ecosystems, the services they provide and their economic value, highlighting the substantial gaps that still exist. The chapter concludes with recommendations for how to build the evidence base for policymakers on the economic value of Qatar’s environment.