All this means is that any part of the natural world that benefits people, or that underpins the provision of benefits to people, is a form of natural capital.

Natural capital is a stock, and from it flows ecosystem services or benefits. These services (where service is defined as ‘a system supplying a public need’) can provide economic, social, environmental, cultural, spiritual or eudemonic benefits, and the value of these benefits be understood in qualitative or quantitative (including economic) terms, depending on context.

Biodiversity is an essential component of natural capital stocks and an indicator of their condition and resilience. Biodiversity itself provides benefits directly to people.