Using Four Capitals to Assess Watershed Sustainability

Mapping community values for natural capital and ecosystem services

Common asset trusts to effectively steward natural capital and ecosystem services at multiple scales

The National Forests of the United States encompass 192.7 million acres (78 million hectares) of land, which is nearly five percent of the total land area of the nation. These lands are managed by the US Forest Service (USFS) for multiple uses, including extraction of timber, production of fossil fuels and minerals, public recreation, and the preservation of biodiversity, clean air, water, and soils. The USFS is interested in valuing the natural capital within, and the ecosystem services provided by, their lands. This is in part to justify expenditures in a time of limited resources. We used emergy and an environmental accounting approach, to quantify the ecosystem services, the exported environmental goods and information provided by National Forest System (NFS) lands, and the natural capital residing on those lands. Environmental accounting using emergy provides a method to value these flows of services and storages of capital using a common biophysical unit, the solar emjoule and its monetary equivalent the emdollar. We compare emdollar values to economic values gleaned from the literature. In 2005, the ecosystem services provided by USFS lands were equivalent to 197 billion emdollars, and the value of NFS natural capital was 24.3 trillion emdollars. Our evaluation suggests that the Federal Government budget allocation for the NFS ($5.55E+09 in 2005) was well spent, protecting 24.3 trillion emdollars in natural capital and insuring annual ecosystem services totaling 197 billion emdollars. Monetary values for some natural capital and ecosystem services are similar to emergy-derived values (resources like fish, wildlife, water, and firewood extracted from forests), and others are widely different (biodiversity, fossil, and mineral resources). There is large uncertainty associated with computing the environment’s contributions to society whether using emergy or accepted economic techniques; yet, the magnitude of these emergy-derived estimates suggests that even with the uncertainty, the values are significant and monetary expenditures for the Forest Service are justified.

Due to the growing attention of society to the conservation of natural capital and ecosystem services, ecosystem accounting is becoming a significant tool for achieving sustainable development goals both at the national and international levels. Environmental accounting improves the way natural capital and ecosystem services are identified and valued. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting is an international standard accounting developed by the United Nations. The ecosystem accounting system generates environmental and economic reports necessary for effective management decisions and external disclosure of environmental information. The possibility of environmental accounting lies in the development of systems that integrate information rather than create disconnected, discrete repositories of information. With the introduction of an ecosystem accounting system, it is possible to jointly review and compare disparate sources of information reflecting the state of natural capital and ecosystem services. The introduction of a system of ecosystem accounting contributes to the achievement of sustainable development goals. The result of the implementation of the eco-system accounting system is a decision support system. The author proposes to consider the system of environmental-ecosystem accounting as a reliable and effective platform for providing more complete information on the availability and sufficiency of certain types of ecosystem services and natural capital.

A framework for classifying and quantifying the natural capital and ecosystem services of soils

Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services: The Ecological Foundation of Human Society

From a folklife perspective, I address consequences of thinking of the environment as natural capital that provides ecosystem services to people: services that include heritage, both cultural and natural. I examine contemporary environmental policy to reveal advantages and limitations in thinking of folklife and heritage as ecosystem services, and a need to think beyond ecosystem services to ways that folklore studies may contribute to ecojustice. Natural capital and ecosystem services deem the environment to be a commodity, but ecojustice conceives of nature as a community.

The Multiscale Integrated Model of Ecosystem Services (MIMES): Simulating the interactions of coupled human and natural systems

Topicality. Military conflicts significantly affect natural assets and ecosystem services, including water resources, forests and soils. The war in eastern Ukraine is leading to serious environmental impacts, including water pollution, deforestation and soil degradation. Military operations in Ukraine have caused significant damage to natural ecosystems, which has significantly affected the provision of ecosystem services. Ecosystem services are the benefits that people receive from the functioning of natural ecosystems. The loss of these services caused by war has both environmental and economic consequences. This study examines methods for economically assessing the loss of ecosystem services, including forest, water and agricultural resources, which have been destroyed by military operations. Scientists emphasize the need to integrate environmental aspects into post-war recovery processes to minimize losses and restore natural assets. Land is a natural asset, and it should be taken into account that changing landscapes from natural vegetation to any other use can lead to a loss of fertility as a source of ecosystem services. The topic of valuing the loss of ecosystem services is relevant and important for sustainable development. Aim and tasks. The purpose of our study is to study the impact of military actions on the natural assets of Ukraine and assess potential ways to restore ecosystem services after the end of the war. Materials and methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is institutional, retrospective, systemic analysis and the case method, which is based on real facts and materials about the restoration of natural assets in European countries in the post-war years. The information base of the study was scientific and applied developments and information and analytical materials of Ukrainian and foreign scientists and practitioners. Research results. The topic of restoring natural assets and lost ecosystem services caused by military actions is relevant and important for sustainable development. Research in this area shows that the economic assessment of the loss of ecosystem services should include not only direct economic losses, but also environmental and social consequences. Among the services provided by ecosystems and lost due to war, supply services, regulatory services, supporting, cultural and recreational services should be mentioned. To restore Ukraine's natural assets after the end of military actions, it is necessary to develop an ecological rehabilitation strategy. Soil restoration is an important element of this strategy. Therefore, it is important to study and systematize the losses in order to further search for ways to restore natural assets. The study systematizes the loss of ecosystem services, including the loss of land fertility after military intervention, and considers ways to restore fertility. We also proposed the introduction of a fee for failure to comply with restoration measures, which leads to a decrease in fertility and a decrease in product quality. This fee should contribute to a change in priorities in the choice of crops and increase corporate responsibility of the business. We have created a decision-making algorithm for planning enterprise costs, taking into account environmental risk planning. The introduction of this algorithm should contribute to a change in priorities in decision-making and contribute to the restoration of fertility. Conclusion. Losses of natural assets and ecosystem services as a result of military actions in Ukraine are not only ecological, but also economic in nature. Valuing such losses is an important step in developing effective measures for environmental restoration and sustainable development.

The ecology education community has focused on the suite of knowledge and competencies that constitute environmental literacy, including self-knowledge, evidence-based habits of mind, and ecological concepts and connections (Jordan et al., 2009). Whereas the environmental education (EE) community also is concerned with knowledge, it further embraces goals related to changing attitudes and behavior. In both of these sub-disciplines, educational researchers most often focus on outcomes of specific interventions. Less attention has been paid to the interrelations among the ecological or environmental education activities themselves and the larger social-ecological system. This poster will explore the notion of an ecology of EE, and will attempt to situate EE within a social-ecological framework, such as those proposed by Grimm, Pickett and other ecological researchers who focus on coupled human-natural systems.Using civic ecology education as an example, we explore the interrelations among an educational program and the social and bio-geo-physical components of a larger system. Civic ecology education refers to youth programs where learning is situated in community gardening, community forestry, habitat restoration, and similar small-scale, emergent environmental stewardship or civic ecology practices, which have both social and ecological outcomes. When an educational program is situated in these practices, it may become part of a virtuous feedback loop, in which youth and adult stewardship actions contribute to natural capital, which in turn produces ecosystem services. Social capital may also be enhanced through multiple mechanisms, e.g., youth and adult participation in the civic ecology activity, and through the green spaces created through their activity, both of which provide opportunities for people to socialize, build trust, and participate in the civic life of their community. In addition to viewing EE’s role in feedback loops, we consider EE as a driver of human behavior, as a mediator of human impact on the social and bio-physical environment, and as a mediator of the way in which humans use ecosystem services.Should EE situated in civic ecology practice contribute both directly and indirectly to social and natural capital and ecosystem services, then it may play a role in social-ecological systems resilience. Here we show management and educational applications for a conceptual framework focusing on EE’s role in social-ecosystems and their resilience.

Valuing natural capital and ecosystem services toward the goals of efficiency, fairness, and sustainability

The nature–business nexus is increasingly recognized for its vital role in sustaining ecosystem services and advancing sustainable development. This paper provides an interdisciplinary review of research at the intersection of soil science and the Business, Management, and Accounting (BMA) domain. Using bibliometric tools, thematic and temporal analysis, and a knowledge graph, the study traces the evolution of four key themes (linked to fifteen sub-themes): Soil Pollution Management and Environmental Remediation, Life Cycle and Environmental Impact, Sustainability and Ecosystems, and Agricultural Practices and Efficiency. These are grouped into two overarching domains: (1) Soil Health, Environmental, and Technical Management and (2) Circular Economy, Ecosystem Services, and Sustainable Development. The review highlights the emerging role of soil as natural capital within broader systems thinking frameworks that integrate environmental stewardship and socio-economic goals. It demonstrates that soil health management is central to the provision and regulation of ecosystem services, with implications for climate action, food security, and sustainability transitions. The findings suggest that BMA and natural science scholars should adopt holistic and forward-looking approaches that align short-term agricultural needs with long-term sustainability objectives. Such integration is critical for enhancing soil ecosystem resilience, informing public policy, and embedding soil stewardship within sustainable development strategies.

This study aims to determine the effect of economic freedom and national income per capita of the human development index. Countries will be classified into 4 groups according to the classification in the HDI are very high human development (with an HDI of 0788 or above), high human development (with an HDI of 0677 to 0.784), medium human development (HDI of 0488-0669), and low human development (HDI of less than 0488). The analysis method used in this study is a model of data panel to investigate the influence of Economic Freedom and Income per capita of the HDI. The results showed that for the group of countries very high human local development per capita income is only significant effect on the HDI, for the group of countries High human development and medium human development only economic freedom that affects the HDI, while the low human development group showed that income per capita and Economic Freedom does not affect the HDI.

Your fathers’ mistakes: Critiques of GDP and the search for an alternative

There have been growing concerns in Nepal and other South Asian less developed countries (LDCs) with the acceleration of global environment changes due to continuing increases in greenhouse gas emissions and accelerated deforestation rates. Available literature on forestry’s dilemmas reveals that, except for the extreme temperature, moisture, and nutrient deficient situations, vegetation can (a) efficiently conserve elevated atmospheric carbon; (b) use the absorbed carbon in biomass production through the process of photosynthesis; and (c) if properly managed, can help to boost gross and net primary productivity of an ecosystem while mitigating global climate change. Within Nepal, conservationists, scientists, and administrators have expressed growing concerns about the rapid deterioration of the Himalayan environment because of deforestation, landslide increases, and large-scale downstream flooding. These processes are frequently linked together into a wide-ranging cause-and-effect drama of the Himalayan Degradation. Effective management of forest resources is considered one of the solutions to ameliorating environmental and land degradations. Recent Nepal’s government statistics show that Nepal’s total forest area has increased from 29 to 44%; however, forests are constantly facing new socio-environmental pressures from the growing population and from bulldozer-based development. Further complicating this issue, the statistics on Nepal’s forests have been disputed by various scholars. Nonetheless, through a set of policies, Nepal has been actively involved in the REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, Plus Related Pro-forest Activities) programs since 2009 involving local communities to conserve and manage existing forests and creating new forest on non-forested lands through afforestation programs. If applied effectively, the full range of REDD+ activities can turn forests from a source of global warming emissions into a counteracting “sink.” REDD+’s incentives in the form of carbon fund allocations and can act as a development catalyzer, involving many communities in greening the denuded lands of Nepal while also generating employment opportunities at local grass-root levels. Government agencies, many private organizations, religious institutions, and over 22,266 community forestry user groups have been involved in the management of Nepal’s forests, and their activities are contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions through forest conservation as well as deriving economic benefits to local communities.Though mountainous Nepal contributes merely 0.027% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions, it unwillingly exports top fertile soils along the rivers flowing down steep to very steep gradients. Sedimentation from Nepal’s Himalayan region often clogs rivers and canals along the Indo-Gangetic belt and causes massive floods in the Indian state of Bihar before draining into the Bay of Bengal. Participatory natural resource management and the ecosystem services concept proposed in this chapter—which have been instrumental across many South Asian, European, and North American countries in claiming degraded lands and mutually benefitting the upstream and downstream communities—could be instrumental in the restoration and management of degraded ecosystems in various parts of Nepal. We propose such a concept to solve the ongoing problems of land degradation of the Churia Range of Nepal. We have divided the entire Churia and corresponding Tarai-Madhesh regions into 91 watersheds and recast them as the operational service providing units (SPUs) for handling this deforestation dilemma. There are several sub-SPUs within SPUs, serving local communities. It is hoped that with the delineation of SPUs and sub-SPUs, it will be possible to make individual households living within the watersheds responsible for managing their lands and forest resources of their territories and creating an environment of communalism where both upstream and downstream communities will benefit in this “win-win” environmental scenario. The woodlots and vegetated areas that the households living within SPU and sub-SPUs manage will provide a wide range of ecosystem services to the downstream communities. In turn, the upstream communities will benefit from the downstream communities and REDD+’s incentives programs while also ameliorating the global climate from carbon sequestration. The upstream communities benefit from grant money or development funds granted from the government. The government might increase nominal revenue on the farmlands of downstream communities for the regulated ecosystem services from upstream communities. Revenues paid to the government by the downstream communities can be redirected as the government grants money to upstream communities to further improve the ecosystem services to the downstream communities. Properly identifying, assessing, and valuing natural resources and ecosystem services within SPUs and sub-SPUs will help in the management of natural resources in various ways. One such approach proposed here is the prioritization of SPU’s management options by assessing the trade-offs in ecosystem services and developing resilient communities who will eventually contribute to the sustainable management of available resources while contributing to the mitigation of global climate changes. Different computer-based models along with this chapter will help local communities to assess their benefits from each SPU or sub-SPU and change their course of actions in the future.