Native vegetation has a number of direct and indirect benefits, as identified in Table 1. In line with ‘triple-bottom-line’ reporting, these benefits are often divided into environmental, social and economic benefits. These broad headings provide a useful first cut, even though many of the benefits overlap, and it can be argued that both environmental and economic values are ultimately social-cultural constructs. The list captures, however, the multiple benefits that can be provided by native vegetation. Several are described in greater detail in the following sections. Many of the environmental benefits, such as protecting soil from wind and water erosion and supporting the hydrological cycle, fall within the ecosystem services arena (see Section 1.2b: Providing ecosystem services).

Table 1: The diverse range of benefits identified for native vegetation that have environmental, social and economic dimensions.



Sources: Derived from Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council (2001) ‘National Framework for the Management and Monitoring of Australia’s Native Vegetation.’ (Online report) http://www.deh.gov.au/land/publications/nvf/ (Accessed: January 2005)