London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Proposal for the creation of a sub-group on ecosystem accounting Jean-Louis Weber

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Land & ecosystem accounts UNECE working group ( ) (FR, UK, DE, AT, PL)– presentation at IARIW, Tokyo First Eurostat test of land cover accounts ( ) (FR, UK, DE) SEEA 2003, ”LEAC” Feasibility study EEA/ETCTE & Eurostat ( ) (CZ, SL, HU, RO, plus European coast) Production in Europe from Corine land cover , EEA ( ) 24 countries Web dissemimation, detailed data 1km2 grid – 2006 LEAC.xls SOER2005 & Report on land cover accounts with detailed methodology – EEA 2006 Ecosystem accounts at the EEA, 2005, ongoing activity, International workshop EEA-UNSD, Copenhagen, 30 Nov.-1st Dec. 2006

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Sprawl of artificial areas

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Change in agriculture

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 CORE LAND COVER ACCOUNT Soil Flora & Fauna Water system Atmosphere/ Climate ECOSYSTEM & LAND USE ACCOUNTS Land use economic & social functions Artificiality of land Intensity of use Ecosystem services Ecosystem potentials Integrity, health & viability Vulnerability Production & Consumption Natural AssetsPopulation Infrastructures & Technologies Land based ecosystem accounting

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Working Framework of Ecosystem Accounts Natural assets accounts Natural capital structure, resilience & wealth (physical units, by sectors) Capital consumption & accumulation (physical units, €) Ecosystem assets wealth (€) Natural Capital Accounts/ living & cycling natural capital Functions & Services Land use function Natural function Supply & use of ecosystem goods and services (Use of resource by sectors, supply to consumption & residuals, accumulation, I-O analysis) Material/energy flows (focus on biomass, water, nutrients, residuals) Accounts of flows of ecosystem goods and services Counts of stocks diversity / integrity (by ecosystem types, focus on quality) Ecosystem Stocks & State Accounts Ecosystem State (health diagnosis and wealth calculation) Basic accounts of stocks & flows (by ecosystem types, raw quantities) Ecosystem types Economic sectors Spatial integration Economic integration

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Basic accounts of stocks and flows by ecosystem types Terrestrial ecosystems: –land cover (km², number of land units) –rivers (standard-river-km, number of reaches) –small features (number of units) Marine ecosystem (km²) Biomass (dry matter, C, energy…) –soil biomass –vegetation (non soil) –fauna Water quantity (m3) Nitrogen, Phosphorus (t) Species

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Ecosystem health: counts of diversity/integrity Specific diagnosis From selection of markers and threshold values according to habitat types, region, context 1.Homeostasis state (no alteration foreseen). 2.Resilience state (the disturbance that ecosystems are still able to absorb or compensate, keeping the same functions, identity and feedbacks (Walker, 2005). 3.Reversible process without compensation (degradation). 4.Irreversible change (death). Ecosystem Distress Syndrome model: –Disruptions of nutrients cycling (loss or excess) –Degradation of substrates (fragmentation, water stress, chemical stress) –Change in species composition (invasive…) –Dependence of systems from artificial input (energy, water, subsidies …) Focussed research of stressors –overharvesting, overuse –land/rivers restructuring –deposition of residuals –introduction of species Physical wealth as stocks*coefficients (potential, resilience)

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Land use functions and ecosystem services  Support services  Basic accounts & MF&EA  Provisioning services: goods (food, fiber, wood, fuel…) and services that can be “consumed” in given quantities  Supply & use tables by sectors  Cultural services  Indirect measurement (beneficiaries)  Regulating services  collective, direct measurement maybe difficult, indirect measurement (beneficiaries, risk assessment/insurance, natural capital/potentials)  ecosystem services defined according to natural and land use functions

London Group Meeting, New York June 2006 Support expected from the London Group Priority areas Physical & Hybrid flow accounts, M&EFA, PIOT Asset accounts: Forest/Water/Fisheries; agro-ecosystems Wealth assessment Methodological issues Development of the working accouting framework of land & ecosystem accounts Consistency with SEEA standards Classifications Land use functions and ecosystem services Optimal levels of data assimilation and common requirements (scales, time series...) Valuation Actions e-Working sub-group Session of the next London Group ”Long term” research but urgent needs