ruth welters - the valuing nature network
DESCRIPTION
Presentation Delivered by Ruth Welters, University of East Anglia, as part of the Living with Environmental Change: Working in Partnership session at Communicate 2012: Breaking BoundariesTRANSCRIPT
Ruth Welters
Communicate25 October 2012
valuing-nature.net
What is the Valuing Nature Network?
Over 750 network members in 34 countries
Projects engage research community with governance, NGOs & private sector
Network members
Practical
• People are all over the world
• Some people do not read and write
Jargon & meaning
• Natural science - words you don’t understand
• Economics – everyday words with specific meaning
• Business - ecosystem services, natural capital, valuing nature??
Motivation
•People have different motivations for what they want to know and when and what they are going to use it for.
Communicating across sectors
Ron Smith, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
River Tamar
Working together
E.J. Milner-Gulland, Imperial College London
Using the environment for everything
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Employing existing corporate data.
Employing existing corporate data.
Comparing the profitability of a crop per unit of water.
Comparing the profitability of a crop per unit of water.
Grey water treatment (from extractive sites) for different uses. South Africa.
Grey water treatment (from extractive sites) for different uses. South Africa.
Comparison of barley and rice production. Rajastan.
Comparison of barley and rice production. Rajastan.
Comparison of externalities of soy production by smallholders and estates. Brazil.
Comparison of externalities of soy production by smallholders and estates. Brazil.
Water use in an almond plantation and tomato cropping. Central Valley, California.
Water use in an almond plantation and tomato cropping. Central Valley, California.
Cultivation of corn for food stuffs and agrifuels. US Mid West.
Cultivation of corn for food stuffs and agrifuels. US Mid West.
Cultivation of corn in France & Germany (different policy regimes, same regulatory env).
Cultivation of corn in France & Germany (different policy regimes, same regulatory env).
Consumptive water use for crops and milk production. Punjab.
Consumptive water use for crops and milk production. Punjab.
Business needs
• Need to value the natural environment to take it into account in decision-making
• Economics language (cost, benefit, goods, value) applied to the natural environment can sound odd
Challenges of communicating the concept of ‘valuing nature’ to different audiences?
Valuation
• Market price e.g food
• Contribution to output e.g. pollination
• Avoided costs e.g. water quality
• Stated preferences e.g recreation
Value is not the same as price
Network eventTuesday 19 March 2013 in London
01603 591384