Podcasts about Natural Capital Project

With many parts of Scotland finally getting harvest underway, and planting for 2025 harvest being undertaken, NFU Scotland is asking growers to now complete its 31st consecutive annual harvest survey. Mark meets with Scott Campbell, North East representative on the NFUS Crops Committee, to chat about how the harvest has been so far and what the implications are further down the line.Helen Needham meets Gretchen Daily of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University.A special festival gets underway this weekend in the north east giving people the chance to go “behind the scenes” with a number of food and drink producers. One of the businesses taking part is the Tullynessle Deer Farm near Alford which is offering guided tours to visitors. Rachel speaks to Janet and Willie Keith say it's a challenging time for the farmed deer industry in Scotland which is why they want more people to at least consider giving venison a try.Mark meets with Harold Hastie at the harbour in Port Ellen to discuss the many shipwrecks around Islay's coastline.Over the past couple of years, Mark has been following the story of the Ash Rise project, a collaborative project between the Scottish Furniture Makers Association, Scottish Forestry and the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers to highlight the effect of ash dieback on Scotland. It has now reached the point where the diseased trees Mark witnessed being felled in 2022 have been turned into an array of exquisite objects as part of an exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. He went along to have a look and met up with Tom Addy, Furniture Maker and Director of Ash Rise who pointed out a rather wonderful creation.Recently, Rachel visited the Tarland Bee Group in Aberdeenshire to hear what the season has been like for them and to find out a bit more about how they entice younger people to take an interest. After getting kitted out in a bee suit, she joined Yvonne Davidson and her young helper Imogen as they prepared to smoke the bees prior to entering the hives.The new ImMerse festival takes place on the 22nd of September at Annan Harbour and in the surrounding merse (saltmarshes) and river. It will be a fun-filled chance to discover and celebrate the amazing saltmarshes – and the wider natural environment – across the south of Scotland focusing particularly on the Solway. Jan Hogarth from SCAMP (Solway Coastal and Marine Project) joins Mark and Rachel live to tell us more about the festival and how listeners can get involved.

Helen Needham meets Gretchen Daily of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University

Glen Delaney is a project director at the nonprofit Earth Economics. Earth Economics quantifies and values the benefits nature provides, driving effective decisions and systemic change through a combination of education, natural capital analysis, and policy recommendations. As businesses begin to explore their impact and dependency on nature, valuation is a useful tool for integrating nature into their existing frameworks. In his role, Glen works with climate-impacted communities, tribes, and governments to value ecosystem services—the benefits created by nature—translating their work protecting and restoring nature into a dollar figure. In this episode, we discuss: ●     What “ecosystem goods” and “ecosystem services” are and why they're valuable ●     How and why businesses are starting to value nature ●     Frameworks that help businesses embed nature into their strategy and decision-making Key Takeaways: ●     The Economic Wake-Up Call from Nature. The conversation around nature's value is growing louder, especially as we confront a critical juncture where environmental degradation and climate change start to hit our wallets. Look at California, where leading insurers like State Farm and Allstate stepped back from renewing homeowner policies in 2024 due to increasing risks. This move strips individuals of coverage, leaving them to face financial vulnerabilities on their own. Companies too are grappling with the tangible impacts of climate change, from droughts affecting manufacturing to unpredictable crop yields in supply chains. It's a stark reminder of an old adage: we often fail to appreciate what we have until it's under threat. Our collective delay in valuing nature's gifts is now being countered with the harsh reality of its decline, signaling an urgent call for environmental stewardship. ●     Climate Change: The Economics of Health Impacts. The repercussions of climate change extend well beyond financial losses, touching the very essence of our well-being. Health insurance companies are also considering adjusting premiums to reflect the increased risks associated with environmental shifts. Wildfires deteriorating air quality, extreme heatwaves, and out-of-character flooding are translating into higher medical claims and hospitalizations. Droughts leading to wildfires not only claim lives and devastate communities but also jeopardize access to healthcare, contaminate water sources, and degrade air quality far beyond the immediate areas of the fires. ●     A Global Domino Effect: From Migration to Food Security. While the U.S. may not be grappling with climate-induced migration or food security yet, the global nature of our supply chains and the pandemic have highlighted our interconnectedness. Events unfolding across the globe offer a glimpse into potential future scenarios closer to home. Our global interdependence reminds us that the impacts of climate change are not confined by borders. References: Connect with Glen on LinkedIn Earth Economics The Natural Capital Protocol framework by Capitals Coalition Task Force for Nature-related Financial Disclosures inVEST by the Natural Capital Project, Stanford University The Nature Conservancy Kresge Foundation Soil and Water Outcomes Fund by Quantified Ventures Avahoula Climate Mitigation Project with Pachama & Delta Land Services Stitching the West Back Together: Conservation of Working Landscapes, edited by Susan Charnley, Thomas E. Sheridan, and Gary P. Nabhan Purpose and Profit episode with Fawn Bergen, lead of Intel's Corporate Sustainability Group Ecosystem Services Valuation Database (ESVD) Connect & Share: If you enjoy the podcast, would you please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts/iTunes? It takes less than 60 seconds, and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. I also love reading them! If this episode resonated with you, I ask you to send it to a friend. Help bring even more visibility to these leaders that are using business as a force for good! Subscribe to the Purpose and Profit newsletter to make sure you don't miss future episodes. This podcast is for you, the listener. I'd love to hear what resonated with you, or if you have a suggestion on who would be a great guest for this show. Please send me a note at info@KathyVarol.com.

Dr. Lisa Mandle is a Lead Scientist and the Director of Science-Software Integration at Stanford University's Natural Capital (NatCap) Project. She is the lead author/editor of Green Growth That Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms From Around The World. Dr. Mandle works with governments, multilateral development banks, and NGOs, especially in Latin America and Asia, to incorporate the environmental impact of land management and infrastructure projects on ecosystem services, social equity, and human health within development decisions. Prior to joining NatCap, She earned her Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and a combined A.B./Sc.B. in Anthropology and Biology from Brown University. Topics discussed: Dr. Mandle's intellectual evolution from a Ph.D. in Botany to researching Natural Capital Policy and Financial Mechanisms. Overview of the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University. InVEST Software: Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs. 500+ National and Global Partnerships with Research Institutions, Governments, NGOs, and Private Sector. Natural Capital Symposium in Early June 2024. The International and Multidisciplinary Collaboration Process for  Green Growth That Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms From Around The World. Key Concepts: Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services. Natural Capital and Policy Mechanisms and Case Studies: Government Subsidy Mechanisms: Watershed Conservation for New York City. Regulatory Driven Mitigation: Stormwater Retention Credit Program in Washington D.C. Voluntary Conservation: Amazon Region Protected Areas Program. Market-Driven Transactions Ecosystem Certifications: Coffee Products and Eco-Tourism Impact Investing:

In this episode, we'll discuss the potential of nature-based solutions in cities to adapt to climate change, reduce disaster risk, benefit the environment and improve community living.

Marc Conte is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Fordham University and a faculty research fellow at New York University, and a recent Visiting Associate Professor at the Yale School of the Environment. As an environmental economist, his research pursuits often explore how market prices fail to accurately reflect the impacts of market actions on the environment (and the resultant implications for society) and how market interventions can be used to achieve more desirable environmental and social outcomes. Prior to his arrival at Fordham, he was a post-doctoral research fellow at Stanford University, where he was a key contributor to the Natural Capital Project. Marc earned his Ph.D. at the Bren School at UCSB, as a trainee in the NSF-funded IGERT Economics and Environmental Sciences program. Marc developed an interest in the environment at a young age, thanks to time spent outdoors with his family, notably exploring the ponds and beaches of Cape Cod. He developed an academic interest in economics and ecology while an undergraduate at Dartmouth College. He continues to be an active hiker and is an enthusiastic amateur birder, whose 2020 highlights include a Lapland Longspur, Snow Buntings, and a Snowy Owl (the first in Central Park since 1890!). https://nexuspmg.com/

The past decades have seen the rise to dominance of the ecosystem services framework, a worldview and scientific practice that sees the processes of the biosphere through a lens of how they prop up human activities. Within academic circles, the concept is hotly contested. Some see valuing nature with the language of neoclassical economics as the only way to motivate governments and corporate actors into doing responsible environmental action. Others see concepts of ecosystem services and natural capital as the inevitable deepening of predatory capitalist relations extending into new environmental domains.  Dr Janet Fisher, an environmental social scientist at the University of Edinburgh, joins the podcast to discuss the newly published Dasgupta Report, an independent review of the relationship between the economy and biodiversity commissioned by the UK Treasury. The report made headlines when it asserted that we should treat nature like an asset and manage it like any other financial portfolio. We discuss how the report is evidence of a rise to dominance of applying economic thinking into the domain of ecology and environmental conservation and what that means for scholars working on landscape science. Links to items mentioned in the episode The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Dempsey, J., & Suarez, D. C. (2016). Arrested development? The promises and paradoxes of “selling nature to save it”. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106(3), 653-671. The Future of Conservation Project Westman, W. E. (1977). How much are nature's services worth?. Science, 197(4307), 960-964. Ehrlich, P. R. (1968). The population bomb. New York, 72-80. Mark Carney, UN special envoy for climate's plan for a $100 billion carbon market The Natural Capital Project's InVEST software Kareiva, P., & Marvier, M. (2012). What is conservation science?. BioScience, 62(11), 962-969. Final Report - The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review The relationship between ecosystem services and human-wellbeing from the MEA. Norgaard, R. B. (2010). Ecosystem services: From eye-opening metaphor to complexity blinder. Ecological economics, 69(6), 1219-1227. Fletcher, R., & Büscher, B. (2017). The PES conceit: revisiting the relationship between payments for environmental services and neoliberal conservation. Ecological Economics, 132, 224-231. and response: Van Hecken, G., Kolinjivadi, V., Windey, C., McElwee, P., Shapiro-Garza, E., Huybrechs, F., & Bastiaensen, J. (2018). Silencing agency in payments for ecosystem services (PES) by essentializing a neoliberal ‘monster'into being: a response to Fletcher & Büscher's ‘PES conceit'. Ecological Economics, 144, 314-318. And rejoinder! Fletcher, R., & Büscher, B. (2019). Neoliberalism in Denial in Actor-oriented PES Research? A Rejoinder to Van Hecken et al.(2018) and a Call for Justice. Ecological Economics, 156, 420-423. The UK's Environmental land management schemes: overview Assetization :Turning Things into Assets in Technoscientific Capitalism Fletcher R., (2021) “Review of Partha Dasgupta. 2021. The economics of biodiversity: the Dasgupta review.”, Journal of Political Ecology 28(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.2289 Additional research provided by Scott Herrett for this episode. 

This week, host Daniel Raimi talks with Lisa Mandle, lead scientist at the Natural Capital Project, based at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Lisa is the co-editor of a new book called "Green Growth That Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms from around the World." The book presents a range of fascinating case studies from around the world, all centered around the tools that governments and others can use to protect and enhance ecosystem services. Raimi and Mandle discuss some of those cases, including New York’s famously unfiltered water, preservation of wetlands, and stormwater management in Washington, DC. References and recommendations: "Green Growth That Works: Natural Capital Policy and Finance Mechanisms Around the World" by Lisa Ann Mandle, Zhiyun Ouyang, James Edwin Salzman, and Gretchen Cara Daily; https://islandpress.org/books/green-growth-works (offer code "GROWTH" provides a discount) "Everyone wants to Instagram the world's most beautiful canyon. Should they?" by Rebecca Jennings; https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/7/11/20686194/antelope-canyon-instagram-page-arizona-navajo "Ice on Fire" documentary; https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/ice-on-fire

You leave your house in the morning and are immediately hit with the acidic taste and smell of the thickest air you've ever experienced. You walk by ancient cathedrals and forests and lakes, only to notice them dissolving away and slowly dying from this thing called “acid rain.” For Gretchen Cara Daily, Ph.D., this became a part of her ordinary experience as a teenager growing up in Germany. At the time, millions of people were demonstrating in the streets, protesting the environmental degradation and corporate activities which were leading to the slow death of everything beautiful in their lives. Dr. Daily was strongly impacted by these events, and she's carried them with her as a source of motivation and insight throughout her life and career. She currently serves as Director of the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University. “Looking back to my upbringing, we solved the problem of acid rain…and I feel we can rise to the task of changing the way we think about how we live on the planet, how we fit in with the rest of life, and we can crack open a path that harmonizes people and the planet, nature, the climate system, jobs, human well-being, so that's what I'm focused on,” says Dr. Daily. In today's episode, she discusses the enormous value of investing in nature to secure vital natural infrastructure that contributes to our lives in ways we might not even acknowledge, but rely upon each day. This includes everything from our morning cups of coffee to our mental and physical health. She explains the goal of the global initiative called the Natural Capital Project, which is to shine a light on the connections between nature and our well-being, the causes of environmental problems, the importance of making education on environmental science accessible to everyone, and the need to quantify the value of nature in ways that can be integrated into financial and policy decision-making practices. By tuning in, you'll discover: ·  How to create better access to green space in otherwise totally urbanized environments, and how this can improve mental and physical health ·  What percentage of humanity now lives in cities, and the projected percentage by around 2050 ·  How satellite images can indicate the economic status of a geographic region Learn more by visiting https://naturalcapitalproject.stanford.edu/.

The Natural Capital Project is developing practical tools and approaches to account for nature’s contributions to society. As Bonnie Keeler grew up in Eagan, MN, she loved to explore Minnesota’s natural wonders with her family. “My mom was a master at relationships,” Bonnie recalls. “One of the things she taught me was, how people are at the center of everything. Every problem is essentially a problem of relationships. Science can take us part of the way there, in terms of providing the appropriate knowledge base. But when it comes down to actually making change, that’s all about relationships.”   Today, Bonnie is a lead scientist with The Natural Capital Project. The Natural Capital Project is a partnership between the University of Minnesota, Stanford University, the Nature Conservancy, and World Wildlife Fund. They solve big problems related with how we value nature, and the relationship between people and the environment. The Natural Capital Project works with a variety of organizations from local community groups who are advocating for a particular environmental future, to private sector companies who are trying to green their supply chain, to national-level governments who are considering the impact of infrastructure. They collaborate with decision-makers to identify questions and develop new science and tools to answer those questions. They test and publish results in peer-reviewed journals. “If you’ve made a big international commitment to the environment, how do we make that practical, and think of the implementation of it?” Bonnie asks. “Where do you protect? What landscapes do you restore? How do you invest in new infrastructure, whether it’s hydropower, or a big agricultural incentive program? Or a payment program to farmers to adopt different conservation practices? Those are big environmental management decisions that have a set of consequences, not just for those ecosystems, but for the people who depend on them.” Social Entrepreneurship Quotes from Bonnie Keeler “We’re so connected to the environment in so many ways.” “The big problem is, those connections aren’t very visible.” “We’re often not thinking of the full set of consequences.” “There is a broad set of users and audiences that our projects serve.” “We have partnerships around the world.” “If you’ve made an international commitment to the environment, how do you make that practical?” “We spent a lot of time car camping.” “My mom was a master at relationships.” “People are at the center of everything.” “It’s the human dimensions that require careful thought.” “I was searching for the connection between people and nature.” “There was a way to be a scientist, but be engaged in those people-oriented, human dimension problems.” “Partnerships are everything.” “Are you reading the environmental page in your local newspaper?” “Find someone who you have the opportunity to be inspired by.” Social Entrepreneurship Resources: The Natural Capital Project: https://www.naturalcapitalproject.org The Natural Capital Project on Twitter:https://twitter.com/NatCapProject The Natural Capital Project on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NaturalCapitalProject Book: Crazy Good Advice: 10 Lessons Learned from 150 Leading Social Entrepreneurs: https://tonyloyd.com/book

Leaders around the world are increasingly recognizing ecosystems as natural capital assets that supply life-support services of priceless value. The challenge is to turn this recognition into incentives and institutions that will guide wise investments in natural capital on a large scale. Gretchen Daily illuminates advances being made on three key fronts: the development of new science and technical tools for valuing Nature, such as InVEST, a software system developed by the Natural Capital Project; new policies and finance mechanisms being implemented worldwide; and engaging leaders in forging a deep and lasting transformation. This speech was given at the 2012 Bioneers National Conference and is part of the Eco Design Vol. 2 and Protecting and Restoring Nature Vol. 1 Collections. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year. For more information on Bioneers, please visit http://www.bioneers.org and stay in touch via Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Bioneers.org) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/bioneers).

Leaders around the world are increasingly recognizing ecosystems as natural capital assets that supply life-support services of priceless value. The challenge is to turn this recognition into incentives and institutions that will guide wise investments in natural capital on a large scale. Gretchen Daily illuminates advances being made on three key fronts: the development of new science and technical tools for valuing Nature, such as InVEST, a software system developed by the Natural Capital Project; new policies and finance mechanisms being implemented worldwide; and engaging leaders in forging a deep and lasting transformation. This speech was given at the 2012 Bioneers National Conference and is part of the Eco Design Vol. 2 and Protecting and Restoring Nature Vol. 1 Collections. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges. To experience talks like this, please join us at the Bioneers National Conference each October, and regional Bioneers Resilient Community Network gatherings held nationwide throughout the year.

During this webinar, Gretchen Daily, senior fellow at Stanford University and co-founder of the Natural Capital Project, presents the Natural Capital Project (NatCap) and its practical, science-based approach towards ecosystem service valuation. Highlighting the overarching mission of NatCap and the tools developed to realize its vision, Daily showcases projects where NatCap's work has influenced decision-making around the world.

Dr. Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer is a Research Associate at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Lead Scientist on the Natural Capital Project. She received her PhD in Environmental Science, Policy & Management from University of California - Berkeley. She then stayed on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California - Berkeley. Becky is with us today to tell us about her journey through life and science.

Four distinguished environmental scientists discuss the impact of four decades of seminal work at Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve, and how to increase opportunities for JRBP to make unique contributions in the future. Panelists include Christopher Field, Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Heinz Award-winning global ecologist; Gretchen Daily, Bing Professor of Biology and Co-Director of the Natural Capital Project; Paul Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies and MacArthur Fellow; Barton "Buzz” Thompson, Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law and Co-Director of the Woods Institute for the Environment; and Erika Zavaleta, Associate Professor, Environmental Studies Department, UC Santa Cruz.

As chief scientist of one of the most highly respected conservation organizations, The Nature Conservancy, Peter Kareiva is surprisingly radical. "Look," he says, "we're in nature. The deal is how to work with it and how to help it work for us. The better we are at ensuring that people get nature's benefits, the better we'll be at doing conservation." Through his insistence on "evidence-based conservation," he finds most ecosystems far less fragile than people think and none that can be protected as pristine, because pristine doesn't exist any more. His focus is on working the human/nature interface for maximum benefit to both. Kareiva is co-founder of the Natural Capital Project---allying with Stanford University and the World Wildlife Fund to measure the economic value of ecosystems---and co-author of the textbook, Conservation Science: Balancing the Needs of People and Nature.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Dr. Erik Nelson is currently a postdoctoral economist with the Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University. Dr. Nelson is working with the Natural Capital Project to develop a set of tools for estimating and mapping ecosystem service values on landscapes.

Gretchen Daily discusses foreign policy making and investment in natural capital for the purpose of making the world more sustainable through business practices. (October 21, 2009)