NatCap Project

empowering communities through innovation

Creating Sustainable Future Together with Community Solutions

for Environmental Health and Economic Growth

The Natural Capital Project (NatCap), supported by the Cyrus Tang Foundation, pioneers science, technology, and partnerships that enable people and nature to thrive. NatCap works with governments, local communities, multilateral financial institutions, and businesses to quantify nature’s benefits to people, and integrate this vale into policy, finance, and operations. By illuminating the importance of natural capital – our planet’s stock of natural assets – to economies, livelihoods, and development, the organization aims to transform the way nature is viewed in order to sustain these benefits into the future.

A global partnership of interdisciplinary researchers, professionals, and leaders, NatCap’s work is co-created and implemented through a network of more than 500 collaborators worldwide. NatCap’s tools and data have been used in >185 countries and NatCap has worked directly in >70 countries. Through interactive engagement that begins with communities and their needs, the science and tools NatCap co-develops are immediately relevant to existing decision processes and the challenges identified. With a holistic, strategic approach to finding ways that investment in nature can enhance both human development and the ecosystem underlying it, the NAtCap project exemplifies the Cyrus Tang Foundation’s dedication to fostering long-lasting change and sustainable prosperity.

Tong Wu
Senior Scientist

“This project aims to advance interdisciplinary science and technology to mainstream the health benefits of nature for China’s vast urban population.”

china’s urban billion

Within a decade, the number of people living in China’s cities will reach 1 billion people, far and away the largest urban population in the world.

urban mental health

While city life provides many benefits, it can also place serious strains on mental health.

urban nature’s benefit

Urban nature, including parks, forests, and coastlines, have been shown to provide a range of protective and supporting benefits to cognitive and emotional functioning.

scale-able solutions

The health benefits of nature can be scaled to reach large urban populations through green spaces and other types of land use planning, which is already a priority for many local governments in China.

meet the team

Gretchen Daily

Bing Professor of Environmental Science, Faculty Director of the Natural Capital Project, Stanford University; PI of project, providing overall project design, oversight, and management.

Tong Wu

Senior Scientist, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University
Co-PI of project, leading fieldwork, analysis, writing, and software development. He also oversees convenings and trainings and contributes to management, communications, and other organizational aspects of the project.

Yingjie Li

Postdoctoral Researcher, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University
Key member of project, contributing to fieldwork, data gathering and curation, analysis, software development, and publishing academic research papers. He also leads key dimensions of convenings and trainings.

Yougeng Lu

Postdoctoral Researcher, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University Key member of project, contributing to fieldwork, data gathering and curation, analysis, software development, and publishing academic research papers. He also leads key dimensions of convenings and trainings.

Baolong Han

Associate Professor, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Visiting Researcher, Natural Capital Project, Stanford University
Key member of project, leading software development, publishing academic research papers, and coordination with local partners in China.

[ community engagement ]

In Shenzhen over the past year, the project team have worked closely with local volunteer organizations, students, park officials, and local researchers to promote the mental health benefits of urban nature access and exposure.

In several local parks, they have organized public lectures and worked with volunteers of all ages to advocate for the health benefits of spending time recreating and relaxing in urban green spaces.

The response from local communities has been immense: in one public talk we organized this February, the lecture hall was packed, even though the project team only started advertising a few days before.

partnerships and collaborations

For this project, NatCap team is working most closely with the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (RCEES). Their colleagues at RCEES have been an integral part of NatCap for fifteen years. Together they have undertaken a range of joint activities during that time, from national-level ecological surveys to local case studies.

For this project, they have worked with RCEES to implement fieldwork in Shenzhen and other cities, develop a new mobile phone app to document and promote health-promoting interactions with nature, and organized public lectures and training workshops.

In addition to RCEES, NatCap has long-standing collaborations with the Stockholm Resilience Centre, the University of Minnesota, and many international organizations, including those of the United Nations.

[ success stories ]

Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP)

an innovative metric developed to account for the economic value of ecosystem services within broader economic evaluations, traditionally measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

A particularly impactful case study that NatCap has worked on with China-based colleagues is in the city of Shenzhen. RCEES
collaborators have worked there for over a decade, and with them the team have pioneered science and technology to mainstream nature into urban planning and management.

In particular, Shenzhen has been a leader in implementing the concept of gross ecosystem product (GEP) as an indicator for sustainable development. Today, Shenzhen calculates GEP annually and uses it in a number of decision-making contexts, including administrative performance evaluation and land use planning.

GEP measures the economic value of nature’s contributions to the city, covering a range of ecosystem services. These include urban cooling and flood mitigation provided by green spaces, the health and recreational opportunities provided by parks and forests, and protection from storm surges provided by mangroves. The first scientific publications defining GEP were written by NatCap and our RCEES colleagues. An important next step for GEP, especially in Shenzhen, is to incorporate more health benefits from urban nature, including the protection and support it provides to cognitive and emotional functioning.

tong wu

Sr Scientist,
Natural Capital Project,
Stanford University

What do you feel most passionate about the Project?

I feel most passionate about working together with the other members of the project team, each one of whom is completely dedicated to making the world a better place through this innovative research.

What inspires you to give back?

I am inspired to give back for a number of reasons, but foremost among them is the awareness that I have been extremely fortunate in the opportunities and support that I have received. I feel obligated to translate my good fortune into work that benefits others.

[ education & resources ]

In addition to organizing public lectures, the NatCap Team also provide technical trainings in the use of our software, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST).

Over the past year, they held two such training workshops, one in Shenzhen last November and one in Beijing this May. Both workshops were fully booked, with in-person and online attendance exceeding three-hundred people each time.

They were also attended mostly by students, who came from all over the country to learn how to use InVEST to advance their studies and research. Many who already had experience using InVEST shared their findings, and we have developed a large and growing community of users and creators.

InVest (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs)

Software developed by NatCap project team

Would you like to know more about the Project?

other programs you might be interested in

Solving a Giant Art Puzzle

How the Team of Displaced Chinese Art Digitalization Project is healing history

The Spirit of Giving Back

Cyrus Tang Caring Heart Scholarship for university students aspires to create a more caring society

Supporting Quality Education

CTF on a mission to bring quality education to the areas in China which needed it most