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The idea for this book came from the ongoing discussion at both the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) on the relationship between the Ecosystem Approach and Sustainable Forest Management. This book demonstrates that these are neither alternative methods of forest management nor are they simply complicated ways of saying the same thing. They are both emerging concepts for more integrated and holistic ways of managing forests within larger landscapes in ways that optimize benefits to all stakeholders. The best bet for the sustainable and equitable management of the world’s forests will be locally adapted solutions that are inspired by the latest thinking on both the Ecosystem Approach and Sustainable Forest Management. Ultimately, every forest situation is different and we need a plurality of solutions, each grounded in local realities. International processes do seem to be contributing to a more enabling environment in which successful local solutions can emerge.

How can environmental degradation be stopped? How can it be reversed? And how can the damage already done be repaired? The authors of this volume argue that a two-pronged approach is needed: reducing demand for ecosystem goods and services and better management of them, coupled with an increase in supply through environmental restoration. Restoring Natural Capital brings together economists and ecologists, theoreticians, practitioners, policy makers, and scientists from the developed and developing worlds to consider the costs and benefits of repairing ecosystem goods and services in natural and socioecological systems. It examines the business and practice of restoring natural capital, and seeks to establish common ground between economists and ecologists with respect to the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes and the still broader task of restoring natural capital. The book focuses on developing strategies that can achieve the best outcomes in the shortest amount of time as it: • considers conceptual and theoretical issues from both an economic and ecological perspective • examines specific strategies to foster the restoration of natural capital and offers a synthesis and a vision of the way forward Nineteen case studies from around the world illustrate challenges and achievements in setting targets, refining approaches to finding and implementing restoration projects, and using restoration of natural capital as an economic opportunity. Throughout, contributors make the case that the restoration of natural capital requires close collaboration among scientists from across disciplines as well as local people, and when successfully executed represents a practical, realistic, and essential tool for achieving lasting sustainable development.

Businesses have a huge role to play in how we manage, safeguard and invest in our natural capital. TEEB in Business and Enterprise provides important evidence of growing corporate concern about biodiversity loss, and offers examples of how leading companies are taking action to conserve biodiversity and restore ecosystems. As TEEB moves into the implementation phase, governments have also shown a keen interest in undertaking TEEB for Business. TEEB for Business studies, at the national level, inform public policies, particularly as they relate to important economic sectors of the country. Specifically, a TEEB for Business project examines economic sectors at strategic or operational levels, identifying both risks and opportunities that biodiversity and ecosystem services pose to that particular sector. The output of a TEEB for Business study would be recommendations (in public policies or business standards) that would help government and businesses address these risks and opportunities. Several countries have initiated “TEEB for business” projects at the national level, including Brazil, Germany, and The Netherlands.

● Drylands are complex social-ecological systems, characterized by non-linearity of causation, complex feedback loops within and between the many different social, ecological, and economic entities, and potential of regime shifts to alternative stable states as a result of thresholds. as such, dryland management faces a high level of uncertainty and unpredictability. ● to strengthen the scientific foundation for sustainable dryland and drought risk management, there is a need for a system approach based on transdisciplinarity with emphasis on participatory research and involvement of practitioners as well as scholars from different scientific disciplines to address problems in an integrated manner. ● a critical means to achieve sustainable dryland and drought risk management is to strengthen resilience through capacity development of individuals, communities, and systems to survive, adapt, and follow a positive trajectory in the face of external and/or internal changes, even catastrophic incidents, and rebound strengthened and more resourceful while retaining essentially the same functions. ● Another critical means is the application of an ecosystem services approach to ensure proper attention to the dynamic and interlinked provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural dryland ecosystem services. the ecosystem services approach has proven particularly useful and challenging for economic valuation of sustainable dryland and drought risk management as a basic tool for direct management purposes as well as policy decision-making. ● based on a comprehensive literature review of recent peer-reviewed scientific journals complemented with grey literature, this White Paper provides an introduction to current thinking about economic valuation techniques related to different aspects of dryland management and policy-making. the Paper highlights the challenges that exist, the different opinions about the best way to address environmental economic valuations, and the many assumptions that need to be clearly identified for each exercise in order to communicate the results efficiently to decision-makers at all levels."

Sustainable management of the natural resource base is one of a very few, truly fundamental issues that the international community will be obliged to address effectively over the next two decades. The last twenty years have seen an emphasis on global and national economic management; the next twenty will need to address environmental management effectively. This needs to follow a globally structured approach, based on adequate, reliable, up-to-date data and knowledge, and governed by appropriate international strategies and agreements. One key product sorely lacking to reach this goal is an overview of where land degradation takes place at what intensity and how land users are addressing this problem through sustainable land management. In order to fill this knowledge gap, three projects (WOCAT, LADA, DESIRE) have come together to establish the current status, while mapping out a route forward.