The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...
- WWF Global
- Adria
- Argentina
- Armenia
- AsiaPacific
- Australia
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- Azerbaijan
- Belgium
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© Fletcher & Baylis / WWF-Cambodia
If our health, food, shelter and economies are reliant on our natural capital, why do governments and industries still make decisions that degrade ecosystems? Why aren't market forces working on behalf of nature?
One key reason is that decision-makers do not have a reliable way to assess the true economic value of ecosystem services. Gross Domestic Products are still calculated and development decisions made without accounting for the billions of dollars in benefits provided by nature. Ecosystem services are indeed poorly understood, scarcely monitored, and, as a result are undergoing rapid degradation and depletion.
The time has come to put conservation at the forefront of economic decisions and to align economic forces with conservation. Ecosystem services should be valued and incorporated into decision-making processes.
To address the lack of credible information accessible to decision-makers, and allow them to consider the costs and benefits of development decisions facing them, the project uses an innovative software called InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs).
This easy-to-use tool can measure and value the goods and services produced by nature that sustain human life, as well as evaluate "scenarios" to project the costs and benefits of future policy choices. InVEST is designed to help make informed policy and business decisions.
Using InVEST's maps and data, WWF field programs can show decision-makers where ecosystem services are located, estimate what they are worth and recommend fair policies to compensate people whose lands provide them.
InVEST Workshop - July 2015
Participants of the InVEST Workshop organised in Mondulkiri ...
InVEST Workshop in Mondulkiri Province - 30 / 31 July 2015
Project activities
Map and valuate ecosystem services and engage government authorities in their sustainable use and protection
The project uses the InVEST tool and methodology, which based on the rich natural capital of the EPL, enables decision-makers to best assess trade-offs between different policy options and identify where investments in ecosystem services can enhance both human development and conservation.
WWF is working closely with the Cambodian government to ensure that the InVEST outputs are fully recognized and mainstreamed into government policy and decision making.
Support government work on provincial land use planning to ensure that ecosystem services are taken into consideration
The project is bringing technical support to the Provincial Government for the development of spatial planning in the Mondulkiri Province. Consultations are organised to secure stakeholders’ support. Best practices in other provinces like Battambang will be presented (e.g. study tour) and integrated in the process.
© WWF-Cambodia
InVEST has been developed under The Natural Capital Project (NatCap): a joint venture among Stanford University's Woods Institute for the Environment, University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF.
NatCap aims to integrate the values of nature into all major decisions affecting the environment and human well-being. The ultimate objective of NatCap is to improve the state of biodiversity and human well-being by motivating greater and more cost-effective investments in both.