Looking at Soils through the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Lens

Oshadhi Samarasinghe, Suzie Greenhalgh, Eva-Terezia Vesely

Landcare Research Science Series No 41

This report uses the concepts of soil natural capital and ecosystem services to look at our soils through a new lens. The framing of soil as a natural capital stock that yields a flow of valuable goods and services into the future, together with other forms of capital, is expected to help convey the soil’s importance and its value to those who have a human centric utilitarian view. We focus on the functionality of soil natural capital and provide greater clarity about the soil’s multi-faceted contribution to ecosystem services so that land-use and soil-management decisions can be informed by the monetary and non-monetary values attached to these services.

This report gives a brief introduction to placing monetary values on soil ecosystem services as one way of demonstrating the value of our soils. An ecosystem services approach to decision making is used to describe a structure in which the impact and dependency of a decision on ecosystems, including the soils and the services they provide, can be evaluated. Through this approaches we hope that when we see the grass, the kiwifruit, the kauri, the pumpkin and the mud, we also see the soil.

The report is structured as follows: chapter 2 discusses soil natural capital and ecosystems services; chapter 3 is dedicated to economic valuation in a soil context and its use in decision making; chapter 4 covers the policy instruments for soils; chapter 5 investigates the practical application of the ecosystem service approach; and chapter 6 contains the conclusions.

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Product information

Author: Oshadhi Samarasinghe, Suzie Greenhalgh, Eva-Terezia Vesely
ISBN: 978-0-478-34743-2
Publisher: Manaaki Whenua Press
Publication date: 2013
Pages: 37
Format: PDF