Natural Capital is the world’s input of natural assets which include soil, air, water and all living things. It is from this system that humans are able to obtain as well as make possible a wide variety of services. The emergence of this concept in recent decades reflects the fact that environmental systems are key in determining a country 's economic output and social well-being. Natural capital has several categories from which we benefit from such as renewable, nonrenewable, cultivated and human. It is for this reason that we will explore the types, functions, and policies that will protect these categories as well as help build a long term sustainable economy.
Types of Natural Capital
As mentioned above natural capital is the total remaining …show more content…
These four functions are known as regulation, carrier, production, and information. Below are the explanations and examples of each by using the Florida Everglades as an example before human development and habitation. The Florida Everglades is North America’s largest swamp; wetland ecosystem and consisted of 18,000 square miles forming a watershed starting in central Florida from the Kissimmee River areas and extended down to the southern Florida Bay until the Florida Keys. Regulation by natural capital is referring to the activities carried out by ecosystems that regulate the environment in a way that provides the biophysical necessities of life. (2)(Page 52). According to scientists nature regulated water flow naturally via seasonal rain and gravity as it flowed from the northern rivers into Lake Okeechobee. The water of the lake then over flowed the southern banks during the rainy season thus flooding the remaining thousands of miles of lowlands to the south of the lake with approximately 450 billion gallons of water annually (3). Naturally the runoff was regulated and flooding was prevented during the dry season, and allowed during the rainy season thus providing water catchment and groundwater recharging for the ecosystem. This in turn helped form new topsoil regulate the nutrients and fertility of older soil through other …show more content…
Spanish record the Calusa as the largest human community of the four. From what is known of archeology and written accounts the Calusa depended on fishing, as well as systematic foraging for sustenance. Living among the coastal mangroves of the Florida Gulf Coast, the Calusa utilized the abundance of shells around them to create their built environment. (4) Here we see a direct and perfect example of an indigenous community using the natural mangroves of nature as the carriers of a living area to sustain themselves as they must’ve seen it as nature’s protection as well from bad weather. The production functions in natural capital refer to the raw materials and resources provided by nature. In the case of the Calusa and the everglades ecosystem we see the productions benefits in several items like freshwater, food by foraging, potentially natural medicine, materials for clothing and tools such as the shells previously mentioned. The shells were so important that “Archaeologists found shell mounds, which were piles of empty and discarded shells that had been used as tools after their contents were consumed.” So even after eating the shells and apparently discarding them we see that they were actually placed aside for later uses even in their
Types of Natural Capital
As mentioned above natural capital is the total remaining …show more content…
These four functions are known as regulation, carrier, production, and information. Below are the explanations and examples of each by using the Florida Everglades as an example before human development and habitation. The Florida Everglades is North America’s largest swamp; wetland ecosystem and consisted of 18,000 square miles forming a watershed starting in central Florida from the Kissimmee River areas and extended down to the southern Florida Bay until the Florida Keys. Regulation by natural capital is referring to the activities carried out by ecosystems that regulate the environment in a way that provides the biophysical necessities of life. (2)(Page 52). According to scientists nature regulated water flow naturally via seasonal rain and gravity as it flowed from the northern rivers into Lake Okeechobee. The water of the lake then over flowed the southern banks during the rainy season thus flooding the remaining thousands of miles of lowlands to the south of the lake with approximately 450 billion gallons of water annually (3). Naturally the runoff was regulated and flooding was prevented during the dry season, and allowed during the rainy season thus providing water catchment and groundwater recharging for the ecosystem. This in turn helped form new topsoil regulate the nutrients and fertility of older soil through other …show more content…
Spanish record the Calusa as the largest human community of the four. From what is known of archeology and written accounts the Calusa depended on fishing, as well as systematic foraging for sustenance. Living among the coastal mangroves of the Florida Gulf Coast, the Calusa utilized the abundance of shells around them to create their built environment. (4) Here we see a direct and perfect example of an indigenous community using the natural mangroves of nature as the carriers of a living area to sustain themselves as they must’ve seen it as nature’s protection as well from bad weather. The production functions in natural capital refer to the raw materials and resources provided by nature. In the case of the Calusa and the everglades ecosystem we see the productions benefits in several items like freshwater, food by foraging, potentially natural medicine, materials for clothing and tools such as the shells previously mentioned. The shells were so important that “Archaeologists found shell mounds, which were piles of empty and discarded shells that had been used as tools after their contents were consumed.” So even after eating the shells and apparently discarding them we see that they were actually placed aside for later uses even in their