Natural capital investment is accelerating globally. The Taskforce for Nature-Related Financial Disclosure (TNFD) and climate-related reporting frameworks are increasing corporate demand for credible ecosystem outcomes and nature-positive investment. But as investment grows, an important question is emerging: 

What actually makes landscapes perform over the long term? 

Not just financially, but ecologically, operationally, socially and economically. 

Because long-term value is not created by isolated projects. It is created by landscapes that function as integrated systems, delivering diversified revenue streams and strong financial returns, while improving landscape function, biodiversity and catchment health. 

Environmental markets are attracting new attention in Australia - and rightly so.

They have the potential to direct private capital into some of our biggest environmental and economic challenges: carbon reduction, biodiversity recovery, water quality improvement, landscape restoration and regional resilience.

What they achieve matters. Because the scale of repair required across Australia’s landscapes cannot be funded by government alone. Markets can help mobilise investment, reward stewardship and accelerate action where it is needed most.

But markets are not the whole solution.

Long-term environmental value is created when the underlying system functions -when soil, water, vegetation and biodiversity work together in a way that supports both ecological health and human needs.

Across the investment world, the term natural capital is now being spoken in the same breath as infrastructure assets. It represents a profound shift in mindset: recognising that nature is not just scenery or sentiment, but capital - productive, measurable, and essential to every other form of wealth. It recognises that the economy is not separate from nature, but exists within nature, and sustaining the environment around us that supports the economy means putting a value on it. Based on ecological engineering principles, Verterra has build a blueprint for the next generation of natural capital investing - the Performance Ecosystem.

As demand for climate-positive land use grows, reforestation projects are becoming increasingly common across Australia. Whether driven by regulatory requirements, sustainability goals, or carbon market participation, these projects present an opportunity to restore native ecosystems but only if they’re planned and implemented with ecological integrity in mind. We spoke with one of Verterra’s environmental and forest scientists, Kristiina Marquardt, to explore what’s really required to design and deliver a successful reforestation effort.

For decades, many companies have viewed the environment through a narrow lens: as a resource to extract from or a compliance obligation to manage. But this mindset is shifting — fast.

Glenn Dale's reflection on the Global Nature Positive Summit, the first global dialogue aimed at exploring and initiating effective ways to realise global commitments under the December 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.