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In this paper we evaluate the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impact s of strategies for conserving Colombia's rich natural capital endowment. Specifically, we consider Government program proposals for establishing Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), implementing more sustainable silvopastoral systems and expanding habitat banking. We develop and apply the Integrated Economic - Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform linked with spatial Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and Ecosystem Services Modeling ( IEEM+ ESM) to shed light on the multi-dimensional impacts of these programs from the perspective of sustainable economic development and intergenerational wealth. Advancing the state-of-the-art in integrated economic-environmental modeling, our framework for the first time integrates dynamic endogenous feedbacks between natural capital, ecosystem services and the economic system to fully capture how changes in natural capital and ecosystem service flows affect the economy and vice versa. Our approach quantitatively models the economy, natural capital and ecosystem services as one integrated and complex system at a high level of spatial resolution across Colombia's 32 Departments. We demonstrate how valuing biodiversity in public policy and investment analysis can make the difference between an investment that is economically viable and one that is not. Without accounting for the value of biodiversity, the proposed PES and habitat banking programs are not economically viable. Including the value of biodiversity, both PES and habitat banking become strong investment propositions with a net present value of US$4.4 billion and US$4.9 billion, respectively. The economic and environmental benefits of enhancing Colombia's natural capital base and future ecosystem service supply are demonstrated and regionally differentiated, which provides a strong empirical evidence base to inform the spatial targeting of policies to maximize economic, environmental and social outcomes .

In this paper we evaluate the economic, natural capital and ecosystem services impacts of strategies for conserving Colombias rich natural capital endowment. Specifically, we consider Government program proposals for establishing Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), implementing more sustainable silvopastoral systems and expanding habitat banking. We develop and apply the Integrated Economic-Environmental Modeling (IEEM) Platform linked with spatial Land Use Land Cover (LULC) and Ecosystem Services Modeling (IEEMESM) to shed light on the multi-dimensional impacts of these programs from the perspective of sustainable economic development and intergenerational wealth. Advancing the state-of-the-art in integrated economic-environmental modeling, our framework for the first time integrates dynamic endogenous feedbacks between natural capital, ecosystem services and the economic system to fully capture how changes in natural capital and ecosystem service flows affect the economy and vice versa. Our approach quantitatively models the economy, natural capital and ecosystem services as one integrated and complex system at a high level of spatial resolution across Colombias 32 Departments. [.]

Loss of genetic diversity reduces the ability of species to evolve and respond to environmental change. Araucaria araucana is an emblematic conifer species from southern South America, with important ethnic value for the Mapuche people (Pehuenche); the Chilean Government has catalogued its conservation status as vulnerable. Climatic fluctuations were potentially a major impact in the genetic variation within many tree species. In this context, the restricted geographic distribution of A. araucana in Chile appears to be a consequence of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). During the past two centuries, strong human intervention has also affected the geographical distribution and population sizes of A. araucana. Reduction of population size may cause loss of genetic diversity, which could affect frequency of adaptive loci. The aims of this study were to know the existence of potential loci under selection and populations with genetic, demographic disequilibrium in the Chilean distribution of A. araucana. Based on 268 polymorphic AFLP loci, we have investigated potential loci under selection and genetic, demographic disequilibrium within seven Chilean populations of Araucaria araucana. Correlation of 41 outlier loci with the environmental variables of precipitation and temperature reveals signatures of selection, whereas 227 neutral loci provide estimates of demographic equilibrium and genetic population structure. Three populations are recommended as priorities for conservation.

The continuing degradation of marine ecosystems is widely highlighted as having a significant impact on services they provide for human well-being. To this end, especially during the last decade, numerous national, regional and international aspirations, targets and commitments have been made in order to reverse the detrimental trend affecting the ocean health, which is expected to accelerate in the immediate future. Restoration actions are becoming a common strategy to speed-up the recovery pathway of degraded ecosystems. This recognition also depends on the fact that, in some cases, in addition to traditional conservation strategies (e.g. Marine Protected Areas and Maritime Spatial Planning), "active" restoration may be the only politically feasible approach able to increase the flow of marine ecosystem services to stakeholders, ensuring, at the same time, the mitigation of threats to coastal environments in a reasonable time lag. Given the time-bound target aimed to effectively protect/restore on third of global ecosystems in the upcoming decade, concrete considerations about the potential for scaling-up the restoration interventions across coastal ecosystems are required to prioritise and improve the strategies aimed to cope the urgent conservation issues faced by marine ecosystems at global scale. Here, capitalizing on the most upgraded information on restoration efforts worldwide carried out over nearly five decades, a synthetic (but not exhaustive) analysis of progresses is showed, which could helps to better address the upscaling issue of marine conservation strategies in the immediate future. Keywords: marine ecosystem restoration, sustainable development, coastal habitats. ; A degradação contínua dos ecossistemas marinhos é amplamente destacada como tendo um impacto significativo nos serviços que fornecem para o bem-estar humano. Para esse fim, especialmente durante a última década, numerosas aspirações, metas e compromissos nacionais, regionais e internacionais foram assumidos no sentido de reverter a tendência prejudicial que afeta a saúde dos oceanos, que se espera uma aceleração em um futuro imediato. Ações de restauração estão se tornando uma estratégia comum para acelerar a recuperação de ecossistemas degradados. Esse reconhecimento também depende do fato de que, em alguns casos, além das estratégias tradicionais de conservação (por exemplo: Áreas Marinhas Protegidas e Ordenamento do Territorial Marítimo), a restauração "ativa" pode ser a única abordagem politicamente viável capaz de aumentar o fluxo de serviços do ecossistema marinho aos envolvidos, garantindo, ao mesmo tempo, a mitigação das ameaças aos ambientes costeiros num lapso de tempo razoável. Dada a meta com limite de tempo destinada a proteger/restaurar efetivamente um terço dos ecossistemas globais na próxima década, considerações concretas sobre o potencial de ampliação das intervenções de restauração em ecossistemas costeiros são necessárias para priorizar e melhorar as estratégias destinadas a lidar com a urgência de questões de conservação enfrentadas pelos ecossistemas marinhos em escala global. Aqui, capitalizando as informações mais atualizadas sobre os esforços de restauração em todo o mundo realizados ao longo de quase cinco décadas, uma análise sintética (mas não exaustiva) dos progressos é mostrada, o que pode ajudar a resolver melhor a questão do aumento das estratégias de conservação marinha no futuro imediato. Palavras-chave: restauração do ecossistema marinho, desenvolvimento sustentável, habitats costeiros.

Cape Verde, located off the coast of Senegal in western Africa, is a volcanic archipelago where a combination of human, climatic, geomorphologic and pedologic factors has led to extensive degradation of the soils. Like other Sahelian countries, Cape Verde has suffered the effects of desertification through the years, threatening the livelihood of the islands population and its fragile environment. In fact, the steep slopes in the ore agricultural islands, together with semi-arid and arid environments, characterized by an irregular and poorly distributed rainy season, with high intensity rainfall events, make dryland production a challenge. To survive in these fragile conditions, the stabilization of the farming systems and the maintenance of sustainable yields have become absolute priorities, making the islands an erosion control laboratory. Soil and water conservation strategies have been a centerpiece of the government0s agricultural policies for the last half century. Aiming to maintain the soil in place and the water inside the soil, the successive governments of Cape Verde have implemented a number of soil and water conservation techniques, the most common ones being terraces, half moons, live barriers, contour rock walls, contour furrows and microcatchments, check dams and reforestation with drought resistant species. The soil and water conservation techniques implemented have contributed to the improvement of the economical and environmental conditions of the treated landscape, making crop production possible, consequently, improving the livelihood of the people living on the islands. In this paper, we survey the existing soil and water conservation techniques, analyze their impact on the livelihood condition of the population through a thorough literature review and field monitoring using a semi-quantitative methodology and evaluate their effectiveness and impact on crop yield in the Ribeira Seca watershed. A brief discussion is given on the cost and effectiveness of the techniques to reduce soil erosion and to promote rainfall infiltration. Finally, we discuss the critical governance factors that lead to the successful implementation of such strategy in a country with scarce natural resources.