Proposal for the creation of a sub-group
on ecosystem accounting
Jean-Louis Weber
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006
Land & ecosystem accounts
• UNECE working group (1994-96) (FR, UK, DE, AT, PL)–
presentation at IARIW, Tokyo
• First Eurostat test of land cover accounts (1997-99) (FR, UK, DE)
• SEEA 2003, ”LEAC”
• Feasibility study EEA/ETCTE & Eurostat (2002-2003) 1975-1990
(CZ, SL, HU, RO, plus European coast)
• Production in Europe from Corine land cover 1990-2000, EEA
(2004-2005) 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 19-21 June 2006
Urban and infrastructure land development
"1990" - 2000 - EUR23 - ha/year
Sprawl of artificial areas
Land uptake by
mines, quarries and
w aste dumpsites
Land uptake by
transport netw orks &
infrastructures
Land uptake by
industrial &
commercial sites
Land uptake by
housing, services
and recreation
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
Origin of artificial land uptake as % of total,
"1990"- 2000, EUR23
6% 1%
9%
50000
60000
Arable land & permanent
crops
Pastures & mixed farmland
Forests and transitional
woodland shrub
Natural grassland, heathland,
sclerophylous vegetation
48%
Open spaces with little or no
vegetation
Wetlands
36%
Water bodies
Mean annual urban and infrastructures land take
as % of Artificial land cover "1990"
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
si
sk
E U uk
R2
3
pt
ro
lv
nl
pl
lt
lu
it
ie
fr
gr
hu
ee
es
cz
de
dk
at
be
bg
0.0
Mean annual urban and infrastructures land take
as % of total Europe-23 urban land take
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
uk
si
sk
ro
pt
pl
nl
lv
lu
lt
it
ie
hu
fr
gr
es
dk
ee
cz
de
bg
0.00
at
be
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006
Main annual flows of agricultural internal conversions
in ha/year, "1990"- 2000, EUR23
Change in agriculture
Conversion from
pasture to arable
and permanent
crops
Extension of set
aside fallow land
and pasture
85000
90000
95000
100000
105000
Main annual flows of conversion between agriculture
and forests/ dry semi-natural land in ha/year, "1990"- 2000, EUR23
Withdrawal of farming without
significant woodland creation
Withdrawal of farming with
woodland creation
Conversion from wetlands to
agriculture
Conversion from dry semi-natural &
natural land to agriculture
Conversion from forest to
agriculture
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
Net conversion between
pasture (+) and arable land/ permanent crops (-)
ha/year, "1990"-2000, EUR23
40000
cz
30000
20000
de
10000
at
bg
dk
it
gr
ro
lu
si
sk
uk
0
be
hu
ee es
lv
fr
-10000
nl
pl
pt
lt
ie
-20000
Conversions between agriculture, forest and natural land,
ha/year, as % of country area, "1990"- 2000
Withdraw al of farming
w ithout significant
w oodland creation
0.12
0.10
0.08
Withdraw al of farming
w ith w oodland
creation
0.06
Conversion from
w etlands to agriculture
0.04
0.02
Conversion from forest
to agriculture
fr
gr
hu
ie
it
lt
lu
lv
nl
pl
pt
ro
si
sk
EU u
R2 k
3
0.00
at
be
bg
cz
de
dk
ee
es
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006
Conversion from dry
semi-natural & natural
land to agriculture
Land based ecosystem accounting
Atmosphere/
Climate
Ecosystem
services
Water system
Ecosystem
potentials
Flora & Fauna
Soil
Integrity, health
& viability
Vulnerability
Land use
economic &
social
functions
Artificiality
of land
Intensity
of use
Production &
Consumption
Natural Assets
Infrastructures
& Technologies
Population
ECOSYSTEM & LAND USE ACCOUNTS
CORE LAND COVER ACCOUNT
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006
Working Framework of Ecosystem Accounts
Ecosystem types
Spatial integration
Economic sectors
Accounts of flows of ecosystem goods and services
Basic accounts of
stocks & flows
Material/energy flows
Functions & Services
(by ecosystem types, raw
quantities)
(focus on biomass, water,
nutrients, residuals)
•
•
Counts of stocks
diversity / integrity
Supply & use of ecosystem goods and services
(Use of resource by sectors, supply to consumption &
residuals, accumulation, I-O analysis)
(by ecosystem types,
focus on quality)
Ecosystem State
(health diagnosis and
wealth calculation)
Ecosystem Stocks &
State Accounts
Land use function
Natural function
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
Economic integration
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 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 19-21 June 2006
Ecosystem health: counts of diversity/integrity
• 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 …)
•
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).
•
•
Physical wealth as
stocks*coefficients
(potential, resilience)
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006
Focussed research of stressors
–
–
–
–
overharvesting, overuse
land/rivers restructuring
deposition of residuals
introduction of species
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 19-21 June 2006
Support expected from the London Group
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
Priority areas
• Physical & Hybrid flow accounts, M&EFA, PIOT
• Asset accounts: Forest/Water/Fisheries; agro-ecosystems
• Wealth assessment
Actions
• e-Working sub-group
• Session of the next London Group
• ”Long term” research but urgent needs
London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006