What does the term ‘nature positive’ mean?
If you follow federal politics, you’ll have heard that the Greens and Labor are negotiating the government’s Nature Positive legislation. Do you know what that term means though?
Nature positive refers to an apporach to environmental conservation and sustainable development that aims to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity and ecosystems, resulting in a net gain for nature. Nature positive is an agreed global goal to reverse and halt nature loss by 2030, and to fully restore nature by 2050.
Source: naturepositive.org
The world is currently nature negative. Meaning, humans are causing more harm than good to the environment. The nature positive appraoch emphasises the importance of preserving and restoring ecosystems, enhancing biodiversity, and ensuring that human activities contribute positively to the natural world.
Key elements of a nature positive approach
- Biodiversity restoration: Restoring ecosystems and habitats that have been degraded by human activities.
- Sustainable development: Integrating environmental considerations into economic and social development plans.
- Conservation goals: Protecting and increasing biodiversity through actions such as rewilding, species recovery, and improving protected area networks.
- Net positive impact: Ensuring that overall environmental impacts, including those from industries or projects, result in a net improvement for nature.
Nature positive was agreed in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to protect at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and reduce the impacts of biodiversity loss. It is also related to the idea of “net zero” in climate action but focuses on ecosystems and biodiversity instead of carbon emissions.
Ways you can support nature positive actions
- Replanting native vegetation and restoring wetlands, at home and/or via a ‘Friends of’ or Landcare group.
- Reducing deforestation and habitat destruction by doing things such as buying suitainably-sourced timber, avoiding products containing palm oil and purchasing paper products where possible (I think the iCare recycled toilet paper is excellent.)
- Supporting Indigenous land management practices.
- Promoting sustainable agriculture and fisheries by supporting farmers who are using regenerative agriculture, purchasing local meat and sustainable seafood species.
- Nature positive aims to increase the health, abundance, diversity, and resilience of species, populations, and ecosystems, which are all vital to our survival as a species.
Words and photo by Jen Willis