Natural capital and the sustainability of rural communities

In a controversial article in Nature, Costanza et al. (1997) estimated the monetary value of the world's 'ecosystem services and natural capital' to have an average annual value of $33 trillion. Irrespective of the validity of the calculations,l the importance of the article resides in the fact that it drew widespread attention to the immense material value of the natural environment; indeed, the estimate is far greater than the sum of all the world's gross national products. From around that time, the notion of 'natural capital' has gained substantial currency, particularly in the context of discussions about sustainability. According to Berkes and Folke (1993; see also Pretty, 1999; van del' Perk & de Groot, 2000), natural capital has three components: • the non-renewable resources that are extracted from ecosystems • renewable resources, which are produced and maintained by ecosystem processes • environmental services - such as the climate, soil formation, nutrient cycling, waste assimilation - the products of ecosystem functioning For rural commodity producers, the perennially difficult act of balance is to at once draw upon natural capital and ecosystem services, while at the same time being good stewards of the environment, thereby ensuring that their farms are sustainable - ecologically and economically. In many cases, this balance has simply not been achieved and the result has been environmental degradation. This ultimately has implications for the sustainability of individual farms, but also for the rural communties of which they are a part

'Tarra', Victoria

The region named 'Tarra' in this case study encapsulates many of the challenges faced by Australian rural towns and districts: it has experienced the combined effects of service cuts, agricultural restructuring and falling commodity prices, drought and livestock disease, local\ud government amalgamation, and declining population. On the other side of the ledger, it presents a rich and varied environment, supports a range of economic activities, and is the site of a community redevelopment initiative, the' Alberton Project', which is regarded as the model for a State-wide community-capacity building project

Policy and management options for the mitigation of environmental change

[Extract] Mitigation involves the development and implementation of new or improved technologies to reduce the extent of humaninduced environmental change. Awareness of the detrimental environmental effects of human activity and the consequent need for mitigation has increased progressively since the 1960s. Rachel Carson's seminal publication Silent Spring highlighted the need to minimise the adverse environmental effects of human activity noting that 'the rapidity of change and the speed with which new situations are created follow the impetuous and needless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature' (Carson, 1962: 6)

Cooperative, community-spirited and commercial: social sustainability at Bendigo Bank

Using a case study approach, this article examines how an Australian bank supports and invests in social sustainability using a community development approach. Bendigo Bank's community engagement model (CEM) is consistent with a stakeholder perspective of the firm. The CEM is a hybrid model drawing on commercial principles, such as the for-profit shareholder-ownership structure, and community development values, such as trust, loyalty, integrity, volunteerism, cooperation and community spirit. The CEM contributes to community development by retaining local capital through a revenue-share arrangement, which is used to invest in further community enhancement initiatives. The success of Bendigo Bank's CEM indicates that the 'collaborative commerce' model could be used as a design guideline for other organizations seeking to improve their social sustainability