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Natural Capital (natural + capital)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	40%
Life Sciences	33%
Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	20%

Selected Abstracts

Biodiversity in Agricultural Landscapes: Saving Natural Capital without Losing Interest

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2006
Charles Perrings
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Problems with Natural Capital: A Response to Clewell

RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2000
Michael J. Stevenson
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Restoration of Natural Capital: Pros and Problems

RESTORATION ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2000
James Aronson
No abstract is available for this article. [source]

Development, Productivity, and Sustaining Natural Capital

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2008
Terrence S. Veeman
The elimination of hunger, the reduction of poverty, and the wiser management of natural capital remain as critical, but elusive, objectives of society worldwide. In this Address, the issues of development, productivity, and the use of natural capital are explored and important linkages among these three areas are drawn. A special challenge is the identification of the conditions under which the productive base of a nation or region would increase on a sustainable basis, enhancing well-being of its citizens over time. Policy reforms are identified, which would help to ensure that development is more sustainable, that productivity growth is adequate and appropriate, and that natural capital, particularly its critical components, is managed more wisely. L'élimination de la faim, la réduction de la pauvreté et la gestion judicieuse du capital naturel demeurent, pour les sociétés de partout dans le monde, des objectifs extrêmement importants, mais difficiles à atteindre. Le présent exposé analyse les questions liées au développement, à la productivité et à l'utilisation du capital naturel, et établit d'importants liens entre ces trois domaines. La détermination des conditions qui contribueraient à augmenter de façon viable la base productive d'une nation ou d'une région, et ainsi accroître le bien-être de tous ses citoyens au fil du temps, pose un défi de taille. Les réformes politiques qui aideraient à assurer un développement durable, une croissance de la productivité adéquate et appropriée ainsi qu'une gestion judicieuse du capital naturel, particulièrement des éléments essentiels, sont mises en lumière. [source]

Islam and CSR: a study of the compatibility between the tenets of Islam, the UN Global Compact and the development of social, human and natural capital

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2007
John Zinkin
Abstract Previous research has found that Muslims score elements that are assumed to matter in determining socially responsible business behaviour less highly than people of other religions. This paper looks at whether the tenets of Islam are the reason for this lower score by comparing and contrasting the UN Global Compact's ten principles with those of Islam in the affected areas. In so doing, the paper reconstructs the principles according to their impact on social, human and natural capital and explores whether Islam is supportive of responsible behaviour in these three areas. The paper concludes that, with the possible exception of Islam's focus on personal responsibility and non-recognition of the corporation as a legal person, which could undermine the concept of corporate responsibility, there is no divergence between the tenets of the religion and the principles of the UN Global Compact. Focusing on this convergence of values could help avert the threatened ,clash of civilizations'. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Should we measure corporate social responsibility?

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2003
Dr Jouni Korhonen
This paper is critical towards efforts that try and measure corporate social responsibility (CSR). A critical approach can be important for the development of the theory of the emerging field of corporate social responsibility. A critical and provocative approach can generate discussion and debate. Three main points of critique are presented toward the current efforts in the literature to measure corporate contributions to economic, social and ecological sustainability. First, the use of the concepts of eco-efficiency and eco-efficacy in measuring corporate contributions to sustainability are criticized from the viewpoint of the complementarity relation of human-manufactured capital, natural capital and social sustaining functions. Second, the use of measures that focus on an individual process or an individual company are reconsidered with an approach to industrial and firm networks. Third, the use of the monetary value is reconsidered, e.g. by suggesting an approach based on physical material and energy flows and on a new paradigmatic foundation for social responsibility. The social and ecological indicators illustrating the social and environmental impacts of economic activity and of firms can be combined with economic indicators, but not expressed in monetary terms. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment. [source]

How Special Are Rural Areas?

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 4 2001
The Economic Implications of Location for Rural Development
Despite on-going change, rural areas remain characterised by relative abundance of natural capital, and by distance and the relatively high cost of movement. They are also home to most of the world's poor. Compared with urban areas which enjoy proximity to customers and producers, rural areas may have comparative advantage only in primary activities based on immobile natural resources and closely related activities. There are differences, however, between ,peri-urban', ,middle countryside' and ,remote' areas. In some areas, economic growth, urban expansion, and improved transport and communications create new urban-oriented opportunities for rural services and labour. Remote areas will continue to present special difficulties, however; and, in general, the potential for non-agricultural diversification is less than is sometimes argued. [source]

Social Capital, Collective Action, and Adaptation to Climate Change

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY, Issue 4 2003
W. Neil Adger
Abstract: Future changes in climate pose significant challenges for society, not the least of which is how best to adapt to observed and potential future impacts of these changes to which the world is already committed. Adaptation is a dynamic social process: the ability of societies to adapt is determined, in part, by the ability to act collectively. This article reviews emerging perspectives on collective action and social capital and argues that insights from these areas inform the nature of adaptive capacity and normative prescriptions of policies of adaptation. Specifically, social capital is increasingly understood within economics to have public and private elements, both of which are based on trust, reputation, and reciprocal action. The public-good aspects of particular forms of social capital are pertinent elements of adaptive capacity in interacting with natural capital and in relation to the performance of institutions that cope with the risks of changes in climate. Case studies are presented of present-day collective action for coping with extremes in weather in coastal areas in Southeast Asia and of community-based coastal management in the Caribbean. These cases demonstrate the importance of social capital framing both the public and private institutions of resource management that build resilience in the face of the risks of changes in climate. These cases illustrate, by analogy, the nature of adaptation processes and collective action in adapting to future changes in climate. [source]

The Habitats Directive as an instrument to achieve sustainability?

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2006
An analysis through the case of the Rotterdam Mainport Development Project
Abstract The Habitats Directive is a key document for the protection of critical natural capital in the European Union. In a manner consistent with the understanding of sustainability in the European Commission, even critical natural capital is subject to trade-offs in favour of economic and social development. This is reflected in Articles 6(3) and 6(4) of the directive. This paper analyses the planning process leading to the approval of the expansion of the port of Rotterdam project , which will significantly affect Natura 2000 , against sustainability criteria. Although it shows that the directive is powerful to promote sustainable planning, the success of the case study was due mainly to elements specific to the particular planning process, namely the use of deliberative public participation mechanisms as well as specific assessment tools. Lessons are drawn and recommendations made to strengthen the Habitats Directive and the national planning processes in relation to projects potentially affecting Natura 2000 sites. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Nature and the economy,

JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2007
PARTHA DASGUPTA
Summary 1In this lecture I first offer what one could call the World Bank view of the recent macroeconomic history of a number of countries in the poor and rich worlds. Secondly, I demonstrate how our view of macroeconomic history changes if Nature is included as a capital asset in production activities. 2I conclude that high population growth in the world's poorest regions (South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa) has been an obstacle to the achievement of sustainable economic development in those areas. It is believed that people in those regions are, on average, less wealthy now than they were 35 years ago. 3When population growth is taken into account, the accumulation of manufactured capital, knowledge and human capital (health and education) has not compensated for the degradation of natural capital in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa and, in all probability, even in the United Kingdom and the United States. 4It is possible that China is an exception to the economic forces experienced in other areas of the world. 5Synthesis and applications. The conclusions drawn here are very tentative and there is much further work to be conducted in understanding how ecological concerns can be incorporated into economic theory. It is important, therefore, that growth economists, demographers, governments and international agencies take this approach. [source]

Change in vegetation cover in East Timor, 1989,1999

NATURAL RESOURCES FORUM, Issue 1 2004
George A. Bouma
Abstract Forest resources play a key role and provide many basic needs to communities in developing economies. To assess the patterns of vegetation cover change, as a corollary of resource utilization, satellite imagery, ground truth data, and image processing techniques can be useful. This article is concerned with identifying change in major vegetation types in East Timor between 1989 and 1999, using Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The results highlight a significant level of deforestation and decline in foliage cover. All major vegetation cover types declined from 1989 to 1999, and there was a sizeable increase in degraded woodlands. This decline has had considerable impact on the livelihoods of rural and urban communities. Causes for these changes include: economic exploitation of abundant resources; and implications of transmigration policies implemented during Indonesian rule, resulting in increased competition for land and woodland resources. As the new nation of Timor-Leste establishes itself, it must consider its current stock and distribution of natural capital to ensure that development efforts are geared towards sustainable outcomes. Without the knowledge of historical patterns of resource consumption, development efforts may, unwittingly, lead to continuing decline in forest resources. [source]

The curse of natural resources in the transition economies,

THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 3 2004
Tobias Kronenberg
Abstract The curse of natural resources is a well-documented phenomenon for developing countries. Economies that are richly endowed with natural resources tend to grow slowly. Among the transition economies of the former ,Eastern Bloc', a similar pattern can be observed. This paper shows that a large part of the variation in growth rates among the transition economies can be attributed to the curse of natural resources. After controlling for numerous other factors, there is still a strong negative correlation between natural resource abundance and economic growth. Among the transition economies the prime reasons for the curse of natural resources were corruption and a neglect of basic education. In order to overcome the curse of natural resources and move to a sustainable path of development, the resource abundant transition countries should fight corruption and ensure that their resource revenues are invested in human capital or the preservation of natural capital. [source]

Soil conservation in Polylepis mountain forests of Central Argentina: Is livestock reducing our natural capital?

AUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2010
DANIEL RENISON
Abstract Mountain forests and their soils provide ecological services such as maintenance of biodiversity, provision of clean water, carbon capture and forage for livestock rearing, which is one of the principal economic activities in mountain areas. However, surprisingly little is known about livestock impact in South American mountain forest soils. With the aim of understanding how livestock and topography influence patterns of forest cover, soil compaction, soil loss and soil chemical properties, we analysed these parameters in 100 Polylepis australis woodland plots situated in the humid subtropical mountains of Central Argentina. We used distance from the nearest ranch as an objective index of historical livestock impact and measured standard topographic variables. Our main results reveal that distance from ranch in all cases partly explains tree canopy cover, soil loss, soil compaction and soil chemical properties; suggesting a strong negative effect of livestock. Intermediate altitudes had more tree canopy cover, while landscape roughness , a measure of the variability in slope inclination and aspect , was negatively associated to soil impedance and acidity, and positively associated to soil organic matter content. Finally, flatter areas were more acid. We conclude that livestock has had a substantial influence on forest soil degradation in the Mountains of Central Argentina and possibly other similar South American mountains. Soil degradation should be incorporated into decision making when considering long-term forest sustainability, or when taking into account retaining livestock for biodiversity conservation reasons. Where soil loss and degradation are ongoing, we recommend drastic reductions in livestock density. [source]