Conceiving the science, business, and practice of restoring natural capital

Abstract

Although not a new term, restoring natural capital is still very much the "new kid on the block" when one considers either ecological restoration or ecological economics. In essence, the term refers to the need for augmenting our natural resource stock if we wish to maintain or, ideally, increase flows of ecosystem goods and services to support an ever-growing global population. Capital augmentation as a strategy towards welfare enhancement is not new either. John Hicks (1946) referred to it for the first time shortly after World War II, although he only focused on manufactured capital. In brief, Hicks noted that if you do not keep your capital stock intact, you seem to desire to be worse off in the future than you are now! The principle that now bears his name can be applied equally well to natural capital.