About Natural Capital &
Environmental Markets
Natural capital and environmental markets help us recognise the true value of nature — supporting efforts to restore, protect, and share in its benefits.
What is natural capital?
Natural capital refers to the natural assets, ecosystem services and environmental services that provide benefits and value to people, the economy and the broader environment. It is the sum and relationship between these components.
What are environmental markets?
Environmental markets enable parties to exchange or invest in natural capital for money or other things of value.
Why it matters
They matter because they connect the health of our environment with the decisions and investments we make every day. By recognising nature’s true value, we can:
Protect what sustains us – Direct funding and action towards conserving ecosystems and biodiversity.
Restore what’s been lost – Invest in regenerating degraded land, waterways, and habitats.
Share benefits fairly – Ensure communities, landholders, and future generations benefit from healthy natural systems.
Shift economic priorities – Move away from short-term exploitation towards long-term sustainability and resilience.
Natural capital and environmental markets give us tools to align economic activity with environmental services—so protecting nature isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s also the smart thing to do.
Who it’s for
Natural Capital and Environmental Markets are relevant for:
Landholders, farmers, and Traditional Owners
Community organisations, landcare and natural resource groups
Councils, CMAs, and regional development bodies
Government agencies, funders, and investors
Anyone working to restore country and grow regenerative economic opportunities
Making markets work for the environment and community
Capital and markets aren’t natural phenomena—they’re human-made systems. We decide what has benefit and value, including aspects of nature, and we design environmental market mechanisms to reflect those values.
Markets themselves are neither good nor bad—they are shaped by how we create, use, and govern them. When designed well, they can deliver real benefits; when poorly designed, they can fail.
Natural capital and environmental markets are still evolving. Strong leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation are vital to make them work better. The power to shape these markets lies with us—so we can design them to align with our needs, values, and priorities.
Important role of landholders and community
We believe local people and places need to sustain a leading role in nature capital and environmental markets. This is because:
Landholders and communities are the stewards of ecosystems.
Local leadership fosters locally relevant solutions, innovation, and opportunities.
Benefits include more diverse market ideas, greater equity, and sustainable outcomes.
What Makes Our Approach Different
Our approach is about building the capacity of local agencies, communities and landholders to lead in the emerging field of natural capital and environmental markets.
We support them to build their knowledge and skills to design approaches that are inclusive, equitable, and grounded in place — ensuring that the value generated through natural capital and environmental markets stays in local hands and supports the environment.
We focus on growing the capability of communities, landholders, and local agencies to:
Determine the benefits, beneficiaries and value that flows from their natural capital
Identify and promote the value of the environmental services they offer
Design and lead market opportunities that are locally relevant and ensure wealth is retained, reinvest and shared locally.
Ensure small and medium-sized businesses can thrive in a nature-positive economy
This includes building innovation and entrepreneurial skills, so that regions can create stewardship enterprises, business models, and market structures that reflect their unique ecological, cultural, and economic context.
