How can environmental degradation be stopped? How can it be reversed? And how can the damage already done be repaired? The authors of this volume argue that a two-pronged approach is needed: reducing demand for ecosystem goods and services and better management of them, coupled with an increase in supply through environmental restoration.
Restoring Natural Capital brings together economists and ecologists, theoreticians, practitioners, policy makers, and scientists from the developed and developing worlds to consider the costs and benefits of repairing ecosystem goods and services in natural and socioecological systems. It examines the business and practice of restoring natural capital, and seeks to establish common ground between economists and ecologists with respect to the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes and the still broader task of restoring natural capital. The book focuses on developing strategies that can achieve the best outcomes in the shortest amount of time as it:
• considers conceptual and theoretical issues from both an economic
and ecological perspective
• examines specific strategies to foster the restoration of natural
capital and offers a synthesis and a vision of the way forward
Nineteen case studies from around the world illustrate challenges and achievements in setting targets, refining approaches to finding and implementing restoration projects, and using restoration of natural capital as an economic opportunity. Throughout, contributors make the case that the restoration of natural capital requires close collaboration among scientists from across disciplines as well as local people, and when successfully executed represents a practical, realistic, and essential tool for achieving lasting sustainable development.
"The editors contend that 'ecological restoration must be practiced as if people matter' ... Summing Up: Recommended." "This book reviews related theoretical issues, case studies from around the world and specific strategies to increase the restoration of natural capital." "In a time when humanity is in ecological overshoot, steady-state economics is no longer sufficient. Moving beyond a state of overshoot, however, requires that we learn how to restore natural capital. Hence I warmly welcome this volume. It provides not only road maps and tools, but also a pragmatic approach: rather than merely lamenting about the state of the biosphere, it shows that we can, and need to, make a difference."---Mathis Wackernagel, Executive Director, Global Footprint Network "Economic logic says we should invest in the limiting factor. In yesterday's empty world that meant investing in human-made capital; in today's full world it means investing in natural capital. Fallowing is the traditional way to invest in natural capital. To discover modern analogs to fallowing, read this important book."---Herman E. Daly, Professor, School of Public Policy, University of Maryland "This book is our first road map beyond the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. It teaches us how to repair our wounded planet, ensuring that nature's services vital to human and ecosystem survival are restored before we reach critical thresholds. The authors weave a closely intertwined series of arguments and cases to show how economic values can only be maintained if we protect and restore the natural environment."---Peter H. May, President-elect, International Society for Ecological Economics "The book should be of interest to all those who are concerned with not merely understanding the intellectual challenges of ecological restoration, but also with how to implement it in the field. Ecologists sensing they might need a new set of perspectives and tools to do this will find this an instructive and useful book."
