IB ESS SL 7.1.4 Natural Capital Perspective Questions

The following guide for using the markbands suggests certain features that may be offered in responses. The five headings coincide with the criteria in each of the markbands (although ESS terminology has been conflated with "understanding concepts"). This guide simply provides some possible inclusions and should not be seen as requisite or comprehensive. It outlines the kind of elements to look for when deciding on the appropriate markband and the specific mark within that band.

Answers may demonstrate:
- understanding concepts \& terminology of natural capital;
natural income;
resources;
goods;
services;
sustainability;
maximum sustainable yield;
optimal sustainable yield;
overexploitation;
quotas;
ecological footprint;
Millenium ecosystem assessment;
renewability;
various values of natural capital/income (aesthetic, cultural, biological, ecosystem services);
etc.
- breadth in addressing and linking different forms of natural capital and the income they generate with different appropriate management strategies to regulate harvesting, extraction, transport, processing;
etc.
- examples of named natural capital, of how the goods and services they provide are valued, natural income and named sustainable management strategies etc.
- balanced analysis evaluating extent to which these concepts of natural capital and income provide a useful model around which management can be conceived and executed.
- a conclusion that is consistent with, and supported by analysis and examples given e.g. These concepts are particularly useful because they emphasize the value or preserving the ability to produce future income from the resources although it is not always easy to translate these concepts into actual data that would represent sustainable quotas.

Please see markbands on page 18