Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-247) and index.

The wealth of nature -- Katoomba and the stratosphere -- How to make carbon charismatic -- New York : how to put a watershed to work -- Napa, California : how a town can live with a river and not get soaked -- Vancouver Island : project Snark -- King County, Washington : the art of the deal -- Down under : how to make a numbat turn a profit -- Costa Rica : paying mother nature to multitask -- Teresopolis : the spinning motor -- The birds, the bees, and the biodiversity crisis -- The revolution in the wings. "Earth's ecosystems - forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and the like - are among humanity's most precious assets, offering such vital services as climate control and water purification. So why are they being rapidly destroyed? A major reason is that protecting them has been seen as largely a charitable venture, and philanthropy isn't up to the job. Increasing numbers of environmentally minded people are therefore trying to harness a more potent force - self-interest - to preserve our environmental endowment. Theirs is the quest portrayed in The New Economy of Nature. In this timely and provocative book, Gretchen Daily, one of the world's leading ecologists, and Katherine Ellison, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, give us an informative look at a new "new economy" that recognizes the full value of natural systems and the potential profits in protecting them."--Jacket.