Ecosystem Accounts
Ecosystems are communities of plants, animals, microorganisms and their physical environment which interact together. Healthy ecosystems can improve our wellbeing and contribute to our economy, but this contribution is not always clear – and can be invisible to decision-makers.
Building on land accounts, ecosystem accounts give us the next level of detail on the environment, helping us to better describe changes in ecosystems and how such changes impact our wellbeing and our economy. As with the land accounts, the way that ecosystem ‘assets’ are distributed across the landscape is an important part of understanding their value.
The figure below illustrates the four ‘building blocks’ of ecosystem accounts: the measurement of stocks of biophysical assets; the condition of the ecosystem assets; the flows of goods and services that the ecosystem assets provide, and the estimated value of the assets and services to Australians.
The links between these four building blocks illustrates that benefits people receive from the environment are dependent on ecosystem type, size and health.
Some useful ecosystem accounting concepts are described on the website of the United Nations System of Environmental Economic Accounting.
