Ecosystem Services and Conservation
Research Area block
The true worth of our natural world is still being discovered.
The Stanford Woods Institute is helping quantify how land and water meet society’s needs and predicting benefits from investments in nature. To that end, Stanford researchers are integrating scientific and economic understanding of natural assets. They are delivering that knowledge, developing clear, credible and practical software-based tools and showing marine and land-use managers around the world how to use them. This enables decision-makers not only to maximize the societal value of land and water, but also to evaluate and assess potential decisions on conservation, human development and natural resources investment. This approach holds the promise of transforming how governments and businesses factor the values of nature into policy and decision-making.
Research Centers and Programs
Natural Capital Project »
The Natural Capital Project melds world-class research on environmental economics with influential conservation programs. The center’s Integrated Valuation of Environmental Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) software suite enables decision-makers to quantify nature’s values, assess tradeoffs associated with alternative land- and water-use choices and integrate conservation and human development into land- and...
Osa & Golfito Initiative (INOGO) »
The Osa & Golfito Initiative (INOGO) is facilitating the development of a strategy for sustainable human development and environmental stewardship in Costa Rica’s Osa and Golfito region. INOGO works hand in hand with Costa Ricans in local communities, government, the private sector and NGOs. The goal is to generate a...
Water in the West »
The western United States needs water systems that are sustainable from economic, ecological, political, institutional, equitable, scientific and legal points of view. The Water in the West program addresses multiple dimensions of realistic, integrated solutions to the region’s water challenges. The program’s current projects include sustainable groundwater, water and energy, watershed...
Other Research Centers and Programs
Environmental Venture Projects
News & Press Releases
Renewable Plastic From Carbon dioxide and Plants »
New technology developed by Stanford scientists could provide a green alternative to petroleum-based plastic bottles and other polyester products.
By Mark Shwartz,
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Media Coverage
New Discoveries: Bigfoot Daddy Longlegs and a Bad Bacterium »
Senior Fellow Rob Jackson (earth system science) co-authors a blog on the latest newly discovered species.
By Rob Jackson,
