About

The Natural Capital Alliance (formerly the Natural Capital Project) aims to improve the well-being of all by motivating greater investment in natural capital. With our global hub at Stanford University, NatCap is a collaboration between interdisciplinary researchers, professionals, and leaders around the world. Together, we help people, governments, and corporations incorporate the value of nature into decision-making.

In January 2026, as part of celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Natural Capital Project changed its name to the Natural Capital Alliance (still NatCap for short) and introduced a new tiered membership structure. The press release is here and you can find more information about current NatCap members on our Global Network page.

Our Approach

The world’s ecosystems can be seen as capital assets; if well-managed, their lands, waters, and biodiversity yield a flow of vital life-support services. Relative to other forms of capital, living natural capital is poorly understood and undergoing rapid degradation. Often, the benefits nature generates are widely appreciated only when they are lost. The Natural Capital Alliance aims to change that paradigm.

We work with decision-makers to co-develop natural capital approaches to the development challenges they face. Starting with listening, we use iterative engagement that begins with stakeholders and their needs, so the new science and tools we create together are immediately relevant and can be incorporated into existing decision processes. We work in a wide array of places and sectors, in decision contexts as varied as: building resilience to climate and coastal hazards; providing evidence to inform innovative financing for nature and people including water funds, payments for ecosystem services, blue/green bonds, and more; creating natural capital accounts and Gross Ecosystem Product accounts; guiding development planning; managing corporate risk; informing impact assessment and permitting; making smart transportation and infrastructure development decisions; and targeting investments in ecosystem restoration to maximize benefits to people. 

Our InVEST software (now downloaded in >185 countries and used in over one thousand peer-reviewed publications), is integral to our approach to transforming decisions. So too is our work to build capacity through learning exchanges and trainings and engaging leaders to accelerate the uptake of natural capital approaches and magnify the impact of successes, including through our Natural Capital Symposium.

Learn more on this NatCap fact sheet.

 More on Natural Capital Approaches 

We equip decision-makers with the tools and information to make policies and investments that empower green growth. Learn more about how these approaches work below, and check out our YouTube channel for more.

Page banner photo credit: Brennan Panzarella