The Natural Capital has a significant value and it can be expressed in terms of ecosystem services’ significance.
In 1997 Robert Costanza and colleagues first estimated that ecosystem services worldwide are worth an average $33 trillion annually ($44 trillion in 2014’s dollars), nearly twice the global GNP of around $18 trillion ($24 trillion in 2014’s dollars). In 2014, Costanza and colleagues have reviewed this assessment, and they estimated that ecosystem services in 2011 worth $ 41.6, $4 less than 14 years before.
This framework suggests that natural capital and ecosystem services’ values have substantially decreased. International institutions, national governments and NGOs are providing a strong effort at global level, with a significant commitment, to halt natural capital decline, through projects and specific initiatives.
In this issue we report some examples of projects, initiatives and documents concerning the value of natural capital and the valorization of ecosystem services.
