This blog post is an edited version of a post that originally appeared on the IDEEA Groups's blog, and is reproduced here with their permission.
In March 2017, Uganda - a GDSA member country - published the world's first species diversity accounts. The work was conducted by the Ugandan Government, the UNEP World Centre for Monitoring Conservation (UNEP-WCMC), and the IDEEA Group. This is an important step in natural capital accounting and future work on this topic may help countries begin to mainstream biodiversity information into their decision-making.
In many countries, economic development threatens biodiversity. At the same time, however, biodiversity and the associated natural capital can provide significant opportunities for development such as through expanded wildlife based tourism and sustainable harvesting of natural products.
The accounts published by Uganda, together with partners, create a clear and credible evidence base to understand the extent of human and economic impact on species biodiversity in Uganda. This is a world-first application of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EEA) framework to compile species accounts at the national level.
Interested in more information? Be sure to read the report here.