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Writer's pictureFrancesco Martini

New paper: A decision methodology for site-level ecosystem accounting

Updated: Jul 30


The ForES team, in collaboration with the Nature + Energy project and the IDEEA group, published a discussion paper on the application of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA) at site-level, led by Dr. Courtney Gorman. Here, co-author Francesco Martini, Trinity College Dublin postdoc, outlines some key findings...


Infographic with small symbols depicting ecosystem accounting methods for services such as food, flowers, a rhino, and water

The SEEA EA (System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting) is the internationally recognised standard to report extent and condition of ecosystems, and the flow of ecosystems services. It provides a consistent framework to monitor the state of our natural capital and its connections to society and the economy.


So far, the SEEA EA has been mostly applied at national or regional scale. Now the ForES project and Nature + Energy are exploring its application at small spatial scales, where typically environmental decisions are taken and management actions implemented. Nature+Energy is developing new ways of accounting for the value of nature on wind farms, while ForES is working at Coillte forestry sites in Ireland.


In this paper, the authors describe the steps involved in developing ecosystem accounts at site-level for both projects and discuss the different decisions and approaches between them (see Figure 1, above).


Their main conclusions are:

  •  Site-level ecosystem accounting is highly context-dependent.

  •  Close collaboration with stakeholders is key to develop accounts that can support their objectives.

  • The availability of high-quality data is a limitation that needs to be overcome in the future.

As ecosystem accounting continues to develop and grow in uptake globally, this article provides a timely perspective and recommendations to all practitioners and stakeholders interested in developing accounts at local level.


Read the full article 'A decision methodology for site-level ecosystem accounting' Courtney E. Gorman, Francesco Martini, Kathleen Conroy, Emma King, Reiss Mcleod, Carl Obst, Jane C. Stout, Ian Donohue, Yvonne M. Buckley: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.121814


The ForES project is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine’s Competitive Research Funding Programme.

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