Nature's Fortune

Nature's Fortune PDF Author: Mark R Tercek
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465046967
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Get Book Here

Book Description
What is nature worth? The answer to this question -- which traditionally has been framed in environmental terms -- is revolutionizing the way we do business. In Nature's Fortune, Mark Tercek, CEO of The Nature Conservancy and former investment banker, and science writer Jonathan Adams argue that nature is not only the foundation of human well-being, but also the smartest commercial investment any business or government can make. The forests, floodplains, and oyster reefs often seen simply as raw materials or as obstacles to be cleared in the name of progress are, in fact as important to our future prosperity as technology or law or business innovation. Who invests in nature, and why? What rates of return can it produce? When is protecting nature a good investment? With stories from the South Pacific to the California coast, from the Andes to the Gulf of Mexico and even to New York City, Nature's Fortune shows how viewing nature as green infrastructure allows for breakthroughs not only in conservation -- protecting water supplies; enhancing the health of fisheries; making cities more sustainable, livable and safe; and dealing with unavoidable climate change -- but in economic progress, as well. Organizations obviously depend on the environment for key resources -- water, trees, and land. But they can also reap substantial commercial benefits in the form of risk mitigation, cost reduction, new investment opportunities, and the protection of assets. Once leaders learn how to account for nature in financial terms, they can incorporate that value into the organization's decisions and activities, just as habitually as they consider cost, revenue, and ROI. A must-read for business leaders, CEOs, investors, and environmentalists alike, Nature's Fortune offers an essential guide to the world's economic -- and environmental -- well-being.

The Outermost House

The Outermost House PDF Author: Henry Beston
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Birds
Languages : en
Pages : 298

Get Book Here

Book Description
Long recognized as a classic of American nature writing. This chronicle of a solitary year spent on a Cape Cod beach was written in longhand at the kitchen table, in a little room overlooking the North Atlantic and the dunes. In 1964, the Cape Cod house was officially proclaimed a National Literary Landmark. In 1978, a massive winter storm swept it off its foundation and out to sea.

Nature's Keepers

Nature's Keepers PDF Author: Bill Birchard
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9780787979232
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book Here

Book Description
With more than $3.7 billion in assets and annual revenue of $800million, the Nature Conservancy has generated staggering growththat would be the envy of any business. Incorporated in 1951 by a small circle of concerned ecologists, theConservancy has grown financially into the world's largestenvironmental organization. It has one million members--up from500,000 in 1990--and 3,500 employees operating in 50 states and 28countries across the world. Nature's Keepers offers readers an inspirational leadershiptale and management chronicle, as it goes behind the scenes anddetails the inner workings of the Nature Conservancy. Highlightingthe efforts of nine extraordinary leaders, Nature's Keepersexamines the organization's culture and management, strategy anddecisions, and courageous and ingenious individuals who havededicated their lives to conservation. Author Bill Birchard reveals how the Conservancy's sometimescontroversial business practices--entrepreneurial approaches topreserving ecosystems while meeting human needs--have earned thepraise of management gurus such as Peter Drucker. The Conservancy'sway of operating, though not free of failings, is both widelyemulated in the nonprofit community and greatly respected bybusiness scholars and CEOs nationwide.

The Edge of the Sea

The Edge of the Sea PDF Author: Rachel Carson
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780395924969
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 308

Get Book Here

Book Description
"The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place." A book to be read for pleasure as well as a practical identification guide, The Edge of the Sea introduces a world of teeming life where the sea meets the land. A new generation of readers is discovering why Rachel Carson's books have become cornerstones of the environmental and conservation movements. New introduction by Sue Hubbell. (A Mariner Reissue)

Force of Nature

Force of Nature PDF Author: Arthur Melville Pearson
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Pres
ISBN: 0299312305
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 215

Get Book Here

Book Description
Spurred by the accelerating destruction of remnant natural lands, one man had the vision and tenacity to transform a loose band of ecologists into The Nature Conservancy and launch the entire natural areas movement.

A History of the Nature Conservancy of Canada

A History of the Nature Conservancy of Canada PDF Author: Bill Freedman
Publisher: OUP Canada
ISBN: 9780199004164
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is the leading non-governmental land conservation organization, a private, not-for-profit organization that partners with corporate and individual landowners to protect natural lands. The NCC's work is supported by about 40,000 active donors and manages 2.2 million acres of ecologically important land nationwide. The NCC is by all accounts a rare good news environmental story.

Natural Capital

Natural Capital PDF Author: Peter Kareiva
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199588996
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 395

Get Book Here

Book Description
In 2005, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) provided the first global assessment of the world's ecosystems and ecosystem services. It concluded that recent trends in ecosystem change threatened human wellbeing due to declining ecosystem services. This bleak prophecy has galvanized conservation organizations, ecologists, and economists to work toward rigorous valuations of ecosystem services at a spatial scale and with a resolution that can inform public policy. The editors have assembled the world's leading scientists in the fields of conservation, policy analysis, and resource economics to provide the most intensive and best technical analyses of ecosystem services to date. A key idea that guides the science is that the modelling and valuation approaches being developed should use data that are readily available around the world. In addition, the book documents a toolbox of ecosystem service mapping, modeling, and valuation models that both The Nature Conservancy and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are beginning to apply around the world as they transform conservation from a biodiversity only to a people and ecosystem services agenda. The book addresses land, freshwater, and marine systems at a variety of spatial scales and includes discussion of how to treat both climate change and cultural values when examining tradeoffs among ecosystem services.

Active Coral Restoration

Active Coral Restoration PDF Author: David E. Vaughan
Publisher: J. Ross Publishing Incorporated
ISBN: 9781604278323
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
Active Coral Restoration: Techniques for a Changing Planet is a timely, comprehensive, ground-breaking volume that provides a foundational understanding of the current and emerging practices and technologies used for active coral reef restoration projects around the world. Edited by David Vaughan, this work contains contributed chapters written by someof the foremost authorities on coral reef restoration. It is a must have for all present and future practitioners of coral reef restoration, including research scientists, resource managers, aquarists, volunteers, students of marine science, and policy makers. KEY FEATURES: --Demonstrates new and emerging methods and technologies for active coral restoration, including fragmentation and micro-fragmentation, coral fusion and skinning, coral larvae capture and rearing, and assisted evolution for coral resistance and resilience --Offers strategies on how to set up land- and field-based coral nurseries as well as new emerging technologies such as pop up nurseries --Contains over 250 color figures and photographs to illustrate important concepts and procedures --Includes 11 relevant case studies from around the world to highlight key principles and success stories within restoration projects

The Atchafalaya River Basin

The Atchafalaya River Basin PDF Author: Bryan P. Piazza
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623490391
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this comprehensive, one-volume reference, Nature Conservancy scientist Bryan P. Piazza poses five key questions: —What is the Atchafalaya River Basin? —Why is it important? —How have its hydrology and natural habitats been managed? —What is its current state? —How do we ensure its survival? For more than five centuries, the Atchafalaya River Basin has captured the flow of the Mississippi River, becoming its main distributary as it reaches the Gulf of Mexico in south Louisiana. This dynamic environment, comprising almost a million acres of the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley and Mississippi River Deltaic Plain, is perhaps best known for its expansive swamp environments dominated by baldcypress, water tupelo, and alligators. But the Atchafalaya River Basin contains a wide range of habitats and one of the highest levels of biodiversity on the North American continent. Piazza has compiled and synthesized the body of scientific knowledge for the Atchafalaya River Basin, documenting the ecological state of the basin and providing a baseline of understanding. His research provides a crucial resource for future planning. He evaluates some common themes that have emerged from the research and identifies important scientific questions that remain unexplored.

Conservation Refugees

Conservation Refugees PDF Author: Mark Dowie
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 026226062X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 373

Get Book Here

Book Description
How native people—from the Miwoks of Yosemite to the Maasai of eastern Africa—have been displaced from their lands in the name of conservation. Since 1900, more than 108,000 officially protected conservation areas have been established worldwide, largely at the urging of five international conservation organizations. About half of these areas were occupied or regularly used by indigenous peoples. Millions who had been living sustainably on their land for generations were displaced in the interests of conservation. In Conservation Refugees, Mark Dowie tells this story. This is a “good guy vs. good guy” story, Dowie writes; the indigenous peoples' movement and conservation organizations have a vital common goal—to protect biological diversity—and could work effectively and powerfully together to protect the planet and preserve biological diversity. Yet for more than a hundred years, these two forces have been at odds. The result: thousands of unmanageable protected areas and native peoples reduced to poaching and trespassing on their ancestral lands or “assimilated” but permanently indentured on the lowest rungs of the money economy. Dowie begins with the story of Yosemite National Park, which by the turn of the twentieth century established a template for bitter encounters between native peoples and conservation. He then describes the experiences of other groups, ranging from the Ogiek and Maasai of eastern Africa and the Pygmies of Central Africa to the Karen of Thailand and the Adevasis of India. He also discusses such issues as differing definitions of “nature” and “wilderness,” the influence of the “BINGOs” (Big International NGOs, including the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Conservation International, and The Nature Conservancy), the need for Western scientists to respect and honor traditional lifeways, and the need for native peoples to blend their traditional knowledge with the knowledge of modern ecology. When conservationists and native peoples acknowledge the interdependence of biodiversity conservation and cultural survival, Dowie writes, they can together create a new and much more effective paradigm for conservation.