Nature S Contributions To People On The Relation Between Valuations And Actions

This white paper sets out proposals for a detailed programme of action to repair damage done to the environment in the past, and urges everyone to get involved in helping nature to flourish at all levels - from neighbourhoods to national parks. The plans are directly linked to the groundbreaking research in the National Ecosystem Assessment that showed the strong economic arguments for safeguarding and enhancing the natural environment. They also act on the recommendations of 'Making Space for Nature', a report into the state of England's wildlife sites, led by Professor John Lawton and published in September 2010, which showed that England's wildlife sites are fragmented and not able to respond to the pressures of climate change and other pressures we put on our land. Key measures proposed include: i) Reconnecting nature with New Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs) with a £7.5 million fund for 12 initial NIAs, biodiversity offsetting, New Local Nature Partnerships with £1 million available this year, phasing out peat, ii) Connecting people and nature for better quality of life with Green Areas Designation, better urban green spaces; more children experiencing nature by learning outdoors, strengthening local public health activities, the new environmental volunteering initiative "Muck in 4 Life" to improve places in towns and countryside for people and nature to enjoy and iii) Capturing and improving the value of nature with a Natural Capital Committee; an annual statement of green accounts for UK Plc, a business-led Task Force to expand the UK business opportunities from new products and services which are good for the economy and nature alike.

Published to coincide with the Fourth United Nations Environmental Assembly, UN Environment's sixth Global Environment Outlook calls on decision makers to take bold and urgent action to address pressing environmental issues in order to protect the planet and human health. By bringing together hundreds of scientists, peer reviewers and collaborating institutions and partners, the GEO reports build on sound scientific knowledge to provide governments, local authorities, businesses and individual citizens with the information needed to guide societies to a truly sustainable world by 2050. GEO-6 outlines the current state of the environment, illustrates possible future environmental trends and analyses the effectiveness of policies. This flagship report shows how governments can put us on the path to a truly sustainable future - emphasising that urgent and inclusive action is needed to achieve a healthy planet with healthy people. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The concept of 'Natural Capital' has come to play a central role in current debates about biodiversity and nature conservation. It implies an approach to the natural world based on the valuation of places and species in terms of money. This is, in a variety of ways, both attractive and problematic. This edited collection comprehensively discusses the issues raised by the concept of 'Natural Capital', with contributors presenting not only arguments for and against the widespread adoption of the idea, but also viewpoints arguing for nuanced, pragmatic and middle-ground positions.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 License. It is free to read, download and share on Elgaronline.com. Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being adopted to address climate change, health, and urban sustainability, yet ensuring they are effective and inclusive remains a challenge. Addressing these challenges through chapters by leading experts in both global south and north contexts, this forward-looking book advances the science of NBS in cities and discusses the frontiers for next-generation urban NBS.

This edited volume aims to widen the discussion about the diversity of human-nature relationships and valuation methods and to stimulate new perspective that are needed to build a more sustainable future, especially in face of ongoing socio-environmental changes. Conceptual and empirical approaches, including qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies have been used to highlight the importance of an integrative understanding of socio-ecological systems, where healthy ecosystems underpin the quality of life and societal activities largely drive environmental changes. Readers will obtain a comprehensive overview of the many and diverse ways the relationships between people and nature can be characterized. This includes understanding how people assign values to nature, discuss how human-nature interactions are shaped and provide examples of how these values and interactions can be systematically assessed across different land systems in Europe and beyond. This open access book is produced by internationally recognized scientists in the field but written in an accessible format to be of interest to a large audience, including prospective students, lecturers, young professionals and scientists embarking to the interdisciplinary field of socio-ecological research and environmental valuation.

This thought provoking book draws together prominent international authorities to discuss the key methodological issues and challenges in valuing ecosystem services. Covering a cross-section of ecosystems and services in different sites, countries and

Climate change (CC) is currently an unquestionable phenomenon. If not stopped, it will be catastrophic for life on earth. Scientific evidence shows that human activities are the primary driver of CC tendencies since the industrial times. In this book, we present the relationship between development and CC, with special reference to agriculture, the rural sector, and policies aimed to promote sustainable development. We also give special attention to the situation in low- and medium-income countries particularly rural households and small farmers in these countries.The study of agriculture, CC, and sustainability requires consideration of natural resources and their uses (land, freshwater, forests, etc.), as well as the rural sector since land for agricultural production often expands at the expense of forests. In addition, the use of water for agricultural production affects the availability of this resource for other uses in the urban, industrial, and service sectors. Consequently, sustainable agricultural development under CC requires an interdisciplinary or at least a multidisciplinary approach. In this book, we do our best to deal with this challenge by focusing on issues and topics related to agriculture and its use of natural resources in the context of CC, but without ignoring the interrelations of these phenomena with further aspects of sustainability beyond agriculture.