It's impossible for the derivatives to be more valuable than the source

This is contrary to a fundamental principle of economics though. Economic growth only happens because value is being added to the system by people. Gold in the ground is worthless. It only gains value because someone digs it up and separates it from the dirt around it, pretties it up, converts it into something "useful". At best, you might be able to say that the resource has potential value, but there's no real way to estimate that because of the nature of the variables involved.

Certainly, there is a value to the ecology and that value is often overlooked, mainly because it's difficult to put a price on it.