London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006

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

Sprawl of artificial areas

Urban and infrastructure land development "1990" - 2000 - EUR23 - ha/year

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000

Land uptake byhousing, services

and recreation

Land uptake byindustrial &

commercial sites

Land uptake bytransport netw orks &

inf rastructures

Land uptake bymines, quarries and

w aste dumpsites

Origin of artificial land uptake as % of total, "1990"- 2000, EUR23

6%9%

36%

48%

1%Arable land & permanentcrops

Pastures & mixed farmland

Forests and transitionalwoodland shrub

Natural grassland, heathland,sclerophylous vegetation

Open spaces with little or novegetation

Wetlands

Water bodies

Mean annual urban and infrastructures land take as % of Artificial land cover "1990"

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

Mean annual urban and infrastructures land take as % of total Europe-23 urban land take

0.00

5.00

10.00

15.00

20.00

25.00

London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 June 2006

Change in agriculture

Main annual flows of conversion between agriculture and forests/ dry semi-natural land in ha/year, "1990"- 2000, EUR23

0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000

Withdrawal of farming withoutsignificant woodland creation

Withdrawal of farming withwoodland creation

Conversion from wetlands toagriculture

Conversion from dry semi-natural &natural land to agriculture

Conversion from forest toagriculture

Net conversion between pasture (+) and arable land/ permanent crops (-)

ha/year, "1990"-2000, EUR23

at

be

bg

cz

de

dk

ee es

fr

gr

hu

ie

it

lt

lu

lv nl pl pt

ro si sk uk

-20000

-10000

0

10000

20000

30000

40000

Conversions between agriculture, forest and natural land, ha/year, as % of country area, "1990"- 2000

0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

0.10

0.12Withdraw al of farmingw ithout signif icantw oodland creation

Withdraw al of farmingw ith w oodlandcreation

Conversion f romw etlands to agriculture

Conversion f rom drysemi-natural & naturalland to agriculture

Conversion f rom forestto agriculture

Main annual flows of agricultural internal conversions in ha/year, "1990"- 2000, EUR23

85000 90000 95000 100000 105000

Conversion frompasture to arableand permanentcrops

Extension of setaside fallow landand pasture

London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 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

Intensityof use

Ecosystem services

Ecosystempotentials

Integrity, health & viability

Vulnerability

Production & Consumption

Natural Assets

Population

Infrastructures & Technologies

Land based ecosystem accounting

London Group Meeting, New York 19-21 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)

Eco

syst

em t

ypes

Economic sectorsSpatial integration

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

• Specific diagnosisFrom selection of markers and threshold values according to habitat types, region, context1. 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 19-21 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 19-21 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