ABSTRACT
“Natural capital” is presented as the stock or capital of nature or the environment, that part of nature which directly or indirectly underpins value to people, including ecosystems, species, freshwater, soils, minerals, the air and oceans, as well as natural processes and functions. At the same time, there is growing evidence of private sector activity finding tools to resolve environmental issues in transactions with farmers and land managers. Loosely allied to it, “ecosystem services” are more the flow of beneficial things from natural systems and have been defined as the benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living. However, and in practical terms, the discussion of ecosystem services on rural land becomes more about what might be done by management to provide services to society and nature, replenishing the stock of natural capital and reducing environmental harm.
