Putting a dollar amount on a single species, or entire ecosystems, is a contentious idea, but in 2023, the New York Stock Exchange proposed a new nature-based asset class which put a price tag on global nature of 5,000 trillion U.S. dollars.

This financialization of nature comes with perverse incentives and fails to recognize the intrinsic value contained in biodiversity and all the benefits it provides for humans, argues Indigenous economist Rebecca Adamson, on this episode.

Instead, she suggests basing economies on principles contained in Indigenous economics.

"The most simple thing would be to fit your economy into a living, breathing, natural physics law framework. And if you look at Indigenous economies, they really talk about balance and harmony, and those aren't quaint customs. Those are design principles," she says.

Hear a related Mongabay podcast interview on the connection between nature and financial systems with author Brett Scott, here. We also recently spoke with National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yuyan about what Indigenous knowledge has to offer conservation, here.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: The doll orchid. Image courtesy of Bhathiya Gopallawa.

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(00:00:00) Introduction

(00:01:30) The Financialization of Nature

(00:07:35) Indigenous Economic Principles

(00:14:04) Can Putting a Price on Nature Save it?

(00:27:15) Redistribution and Reciprocity

(00:33:15) The Ubiquity of Violence

(00:38:37) The Wealth Gap and Its Implications

(00:41:31) The Power of Shareholder Activism

(00:44:36) Indigenous Economic Systems and Modern Applications

(00:51:57) A Critical Analysis of the Financialization of Nature

(01:00:27) Religious Perspectives on Environmental Awareness

(01:04:24) Credits

Two experts join the Mongabay Newscast to discuss the decline in koala populations in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), even as city councils and the government green light development projects on koala habitats that aren't being replaced by biodiversity offset schemes, ecologist Yung En Chee of the University of Melbourne, explains.

Meanwhile, the promised Great Koala National Park has been delayed by NSW Premier Chris Minns, even as his state allows logging of koala habitat within the park borders while he tries to set up a carbon credit scheme to monetize the protected area, says journalist Stephen Long with Australia Institute.

“I'm not sure how long this failure has to persist before we decide that we really ought to change course,” says Chee of the biodiversity credit schemes, which seem to be based on outdated data, and don’t come close to satisfying their ‘no net loss’ of biodiversity goals.

See related coverage: How a conservation NGO uses drones and artificial intelligence to detect koalas that survive bushfires, here.

If you want to read more on biodiversity offsetting and 'no net loss,' please read this resource from the IUCN.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Please send your ideas and feedback to submissions@mongabay.com.

Image: Gumbaynggirr Country is home to the dunggiirr, the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), one of the totem animals for the Gumbaynggirr people. Koalas numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands in the state of New South Wales. Image by Steve Franklin via Unsplash (Public domain).

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(01:34) The Koala Crisis in New South Wales

(04:33) Where is the Great Koala National Park?

(06:39) Logging Activities and Government Delays

(09:53) The Problem with Carbon Credits

(16:46) Interview with Yung En Chee

(18:38) Biodiversity Offsets: Concept and Criticism

(20:15) Failures in Biodiversity Offset Implementation

(31:23) Double Dipping and Offset Market Issues

(35:22) Conclusion

On this episode of Mongabay’s podcast, Rachel Donald speaks with campaigner and activist Jon Moses about the ‘right to roam’ movement in England which seeks to reclaim common rights to use private and public land to reconnect with nature and repair the damage done from centuries of exclusionary land ownership.

In this discussion and the new book Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You he's co-edited with Nick Hayes, Moses recounts the history of land ownership change in England ('enclosure') and why re-establishing a common ‘freedom to roam’—a right observed in other nations such as the Czech Republic or Norway—is needed. English citizens currently only have access to 8% of their land, for example.

“There needs to be a kind of rethinking really of [what] people's place is in the landscape and how that intersects with a kind of [new] relationship between people and nature as well,” he says on this episode.

If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing. Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet, and all support helps!

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

Image credit: Participants of the 'Love Your River' event on the River Derwent. Image courtesy of Jon Moses.

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Timecodes

(00:00) Introduction

(02:19) The 'Right to Roam'

(06:06) The historical context of 'enclosure'

(13:42) The modern struggle to reclaim access to nature

(27:49) Cross cultural perspectives, and breaking the barriers

(38:32) Post-chat

(50:19) Credits