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Conceiving the Science, Business, and Practice of Restoring Natural Capital

natural capital is still very much the “new kid on the block” when one considers either ecological restoration or ecological economics. In essence, the term refers to the need for augmenting our natural resource stock if we wish to maintain or, ideally, increase flows of ecosystem goods and services to support an ever-growing global population. Capital augmentation as a strategy towards welfare enhancement is not new either. John Hicks (1946) referred to it for the first time shortly after World War II, although he only focused on manufactured capital. In brief, Hicks noted that if you do not keep your capital stock intact, you seem to desire to be worse off in the future than you are now! The principle that now bears his name can be applied equally well to natural capital. Restoration of natural capital differs from, yet complements, conservation, which, although essential for preserving the current stock of natural capital, does not take sufficient consideration of human livelihoods, sustainable economic development, and the delicate relationship between man and nature. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005) has underscored this fact in no uncertain terms. Two of the four main conclusions from the assessment read as follows: Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fiber and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth. The changes that have been made to ecosystems have contributed to substantial net gains in human wellbeing and economic development, but these gains have been achieved at growing costs in the form of the degradation of many ecosystem services, increased risks of nonlinear changes, and the exacerbation of poverty for some groups of people. These problems, unless addressed, will substantially diminish the benefits that future generations obtain from ecosystems.