Natural capital provides ecosystem services that sustain human societies and ecosystems, including food and water provision, climate regulation, nutrient cycling, recreation and cultural benefits. In IB ESS, these benefits flowing from natural capital are called natural income.
Level: SL and HL; Subtopic 7.1 Natural resources: uses and management.
How Natural Capital Produces Ecosystem Services
Natural capital is the stock of natural resources available on Earth, such as forests, soils, freshwater, oceans, minerals and biodiversity. Ecosystem services are the life-supporting benefits generated by functioning ecosystems.
The crucial distinction is between the stock and its flow. A forest is natural capital; the timber, carbon sequestration, flood regulation and recreation it provides are forms of natural income.
| Type of ecosystem service | What it provides and examples |
|---|---|
| Provisioning services | Material goods, including food, freshwater, timber, fibres and medicinal resources. |
| Regulating services | Regulation of environmental conditions through carbon sequestration, climate regulation, water purification, pollination, erosion control and flood reduction. |
| Supporting services | Ecological processes that enable other services, including soil formation, nutrient cycling, photosynthesis and habitat provision. |
| Cultural services | Non-material benefits, including recreation, tourism, aesthetic enjoyment, education, spiritual significance and cultural identity. |
These services are interconnected. For example, Costa Rica's forests store carbon, protect watersheds, provide wildlife habitat and support ecotourism. Deforestation reduces the natural-capital stock and therefore decreases several flows of natural income simultaneously.
A common misconception is that natural capital is valuable only when it produces marketable goods. This ignores services such as climate regulation and cultural identity, which may have no direct market price but still have ecological, social, economic or intrinsic value. Access is also an environmental justice issue because the benefits and costs of resource use may be distributed unequally.
Exam Technique
For an IB response, define natural capital as a stock, identify ecosystem services as flows, and apply each to a named example. If asked to evaluate resource use, balance economic benefits against ecological and social costs, consider different perspectives, and reach a supported conclusion.
