Future Perfect

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Moving towards healthy, sustainable economies

José Maria Cardoso da Silva, Fábio Scarano and Fábio Arjona,

Conservation International Foundation

he challenges confronting our global environment and

the needs of the world’s human populations have never

been greater: the future, quite literally, is in the balance.

Every person on Earth deserves a healthy environment and the

fundamental benefits that nature provides. But our planet is

experiencing an unprecedented drawdown of these resources,

and it is only by protecting nature that we can ensure a better

life for everyone, everywhere. To address this ongoing crisis we

must develop healthy, sustainable economies (HSEs), which

enhance social capital and equity and improve human well-

being. HSEs require the integrity, resilience and productivity of

natural ecosystems and their biodiversity. If societies recognize

the importance of the values of nature to social development

and mainstream those values in decision-making, then natural

ecosystems will be protected more effectively than ever.

Natural capital and ecosystem services

A country’s income and economic well-being depend

on its wealth, where wealth is defined in the broadest

sense to include natural, produced, human and social

capital. Natural capital includes all renewable (but not

inexhaustible) resources (for example, all products

derived from ecosystems and their services) as well as

non-renewable stocks of exhaustible useful substances

generally found underground (oil, gas, minerals and

so on). Produced capital includes all physical assets

or durable goods (such as man-made infrastructure)

as well as finance (liquid assets). Human capital is

the stock of competences, knowledge and personality

attributes that individuals acquire through research,

education and practice, embodied in the ability to

ustainability

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Networks of protected areas can help in the conservation of critical natural capital

Ecosystem services include both direct and indirect contributions of

ecosystems to well-being