| Contents Notes |
pt. I. The context of ecosystem services. Ecology ; Geography ; Economics -- pt. II. The status of ecosystem services in law and policy. Property rights ; Regulation ; Social norms -- pt. III. Empirical case studies in ecosystem services law and policy. An odyssey on 6,000 acres : pre-1670 to 2006 ; Water : blue, green, and virtual ; The conservation reserve program 1985-2006 : from soil erosion to ecosystem services ; The National Conservation Buffer Initiative : ecosystem services from riparian buffers ; From amber to green: the common agricultural policy of the European Union ; Ecosystem services from an agricultural watershed: the case of Big Creek ; Wetland mitigation banking : an ecosystem market without ecosystem services ; Ecosystem services and pollution trading I : a sulfurous success and a nutritious failure ; Ecosystem services and pollution trading II : carbon trading to ameliorate global warming -- pt. IV. Designing new law and policy for ecosystem services. Drivers and models ; Trade-offs and transitions ; Instruments and institutions. "The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is the first comprehensive exploration of the status and future of natural capital and ecosystem services in American law and policy. The book develops a framework for thinking about ecosystem services across their ecologic, geographic, economic, social, and legal dimensions and evaluates the prospects of crafting a legal infrastructure that can help build an ecosystem service economy that is as robust as existing economies for manufactured goods, natural resource commodities, and human-provided services. The book examines the geographic, ecological, and economic context of ecosystem services and provides a baseline of the current status of ecosystem services in law and society. It identifies shortcomings of current law and policy and the critical areas for improvement and forges an approach for the design of new law and policy for ecosystem services. Included are a series of nine empirical case studies that explore the problems caused by society s failure to properly value natural capital. Among the case study topics considered are water issues, The Conservation Reserve Program, the National Conservation Buffer Initiative, the agricultural policy of the European Union, wetland mitigation, and pollution trading. The Law and Policy of Ecosystem Services is a groundbreaking look at the question of whether and how law and policy can shape a sustainable system of ecosystem service management. It is an accessible and informative work for faculty, students, and policy makers concerned with ecology, economics, geography, political science, environmental studies, law, and related fields"--Publisher description. |
