Restoring Natural Capital: Science, Business, and Practice

Portada
James Aronson, Suzanne J. Milton, James N. Blignaut
Island Press, 26 sept 2012 - 400 páginas
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.
 

Índice

Restoring Natural Capital The Conceptual Landscape
1
Restoring Natual Capital Experiences and Lessons
55
Restoring Natural Capital Tactics and Strategies
225
Synthesis
303
Glossary
319
References
329
Editors
365
Contributors
367
Index
375
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Página 3 - 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, fibre and fuel. This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on Earth.
Página 11 - what is," not with "what ought to be." Its task is to provide a system of generalizations that can be used to make correct predictions about the consequences of any change in circumstances. Its performance is to be judged by the precision, scope, and conformity with experience...
Página 5 - Restoration (SER) defines ecological restoration as "the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.
Página 13 - One of the most sweeping catch-phrases in environmental management is 'sustainable development', defined as meeting the needs of the current generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987).

Sobre el autor (2012)

James Aronson is a full-time researcher, and for over 20 years has been involved with research and development programs aimed at restoring and rehabilitating degraded ecosystems in the Mediterranean region, South America, Africa, and elsewhere. Since 1992, he has been a researcher with the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CNRS) in Montpellier, France, where he serves as Head of the Restoration Ecology Group. He is also Curator of Restoration Ecology at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. Suzanne J. Milton is a part-time professor of conservation ecology at the University of Stellenbosch–South Africa and a part-time ecological consultantspecializing in assessment and restoration of arid rangelands. James N. Blignaut is professor in economics at the University of Pretoria and director of Beatus and Jabenzi, two private companies considering the economy/ecology interface with development.

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