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practice</title></head><body>
<div><font face="Arial">PNAS 2015 112 (24) 7348-7355; published ahead
of print June 16, 2015, doi:10.1073/pnas.1503751112</font></div>
<div><font face="Times"><b><br></b></font></div>
<div><font face="Times" size="+1"><b>Natural capital and ecosystem
services informing decisions: From promise to
practice</b></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Anne D. Guerry, Stephen Polasky, Jane
Lubchenco, Rebecca Chaplin-Kramer, Gretchen C. Daily et
al</font></div>
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face="Arial"
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<div><font face="Arial">" ... achieving
sustainable levels of population and consumption ...
"</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">" ... (<i>iii</i>) reforming
institutions to change policy and practices to better align private
short-term goals with societal long-term goals."</font></div>
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face="Arial">----------------------------------------------</font></div
>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">index/key words:</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">sustainable development, resilience, human
well-being, decision making, beneficiary</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">Abstract (pdf is open access at
link)</font></div>
<div><font
face="Arial"
><<http://www.pnas.org/content/112/24/7348.abstract>></font
></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">The central challenge of the 21st century is
to develop economic, social, and governance systems capable of ending
poverty and achieving sustainable levels of population and consumption
while securing the life-support systems underpinning current and
future human well-being. Essential to meeting this challenge is the
incorporation of natural capital and the ecosystem services it
provides into decision-making. We explore progress and crucial gaps at
this frontier, reflecting upon the 10 y since the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment. We focus on three key dimensions of progress and ongoing
challenges: raising awareness of the interdependence of ecosystems and
human well-being, advancing the fundamental interdisciplinary science
of ecosystem services, and implementing this science in decisions to
restore natural capital and use it sustainably. Awareness of human
dependence on nature is at an all-time high, the science of ecosystem
services is rapidly advancing, and talk of natural capital is now
common from governments to corporate boardrooms. However, successful
implementation is still in early stages. We explore why ecosystem
service information has yet to fundamentally change decision-making
and suggest a path forward that emphasizes: (<i>i</i>) developing
solid evidence linking decisions to impacts on natural capital and
ecosystem services, and then to human well-being; (<i>ii</i>) working
closely with leaders in government, business, and civil society to
develop the knowledge, tools, and practices necessary to integrate
natural capital and ecosystem services into everyday decision-making;
and (<i>iii</i>) reforming institutions to change policy and practices
to better align private short-term goals with societal long-term
goals.</font></div>
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color="#000000"> </font><font face="Bookman Old Style"
color="#000000"
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"On a world-wide basis, from the time agriculture began, almost
80 million tons of carbon have been released from the soil (Rattan
Lal, soil scientist, Ohio State University). Up until the late 1950s,
tillage (plowing) released more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
than all the burning of oil and coal in history."<br>
<br>
" Š not tilling the soil begins to build up the carbon content of
the soil. You might call this 'carbon farming' ... Obviously, these
programs are currently not big money-makers for farmers."<br>
<br>
"Energy agriculture - carbon farming"<br>
Don Hofstrand<br>
co-director AgMRC<br>
Iowa State University<br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-2"
color="#0000FF"><u
>https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/articles/hof/HofAug07.html<br>
<br>
</u></font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-2" color="#000000">If
the link doesn't work, just open your browser and search the web
for<br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000">"Energy
agriculture - carbon farming" Don Hofstrand<br>
<br>
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