The Stanford Woods Institute is helping quantify how land and water meet society’s needs and predicting benefits from investments in nature. To that end, Stanford researchers are integrating scientific and economic understanding of natural assets. They are delivering that knowledge, developing clear, credible and practical software-based tools and showing marine and land-use managers around the world how to use them. This enables decision-makers not only to maximize the societal value of land and water, but also to evaluate and assess potential decisions on conservation, human development and natural resources investment. This approach holds the promise of transforming how governments and businesses factor the values of nature into policy and decision-making.