Guilherme Leal and Jochen Zeitz explain that business has long been seen as a barrier to the sustainable use of natural resources, but the example of Virunga National Park proves otherwise.
“Business must be willing to explore investing in nature to protect its bottom lines. Whether it is the ecosystem services that support the conditions for life, the natural resources necessary for the creation of products, or the business costs resulting from droughts, floods, reduced air, water quality or climate-related threats. This begins by protecting and investing in valuable areas, such as national parks and wilderness areas.
Protected areas can present a plethora of business opportunities. They can have both intrinsic and commercial value, and not protecting them can carry an economic cost — either resulting from the downstream effects of biodiversity loss or, more directly, from investing in practices that destroy these areas.
Business has long been seen as a barrier to the sustainable use of natural resources. In reality it can be key to the solutions. By factoring in the true costs of its activities and investing in natural capital, business can thrive in the long term while maintaining the intrinsic value of nature. Business leaders who see these opportunities are now coming together to act through platforms like The B Team and NatureVest, to show that business and protected areas can, and should, thrive side by side…”
Read on at: The Guardian
