TY - JOUR
T1 - Including biological diversity in natural capital accounts for marine biodiversity conservation and human well-being
AU - Luisetti, Tiziana
AU - Schratzberger, Michaela
N1 - Funding Information: The authors were supported by Development project DP413 of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science ('Seas of Opportunity'). Adrian Judd is acknowledged for his valuable comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. The authors would like to also thank three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. The views expressed in the manuscript are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an endorsement by the government agency or other institutions with whom they are affiliated.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Natural capital (NC) accounts measure and value the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans. Marine biodiversity supports human well-being directly by providing a source of food (e.g. wild fish), and indirectly by providing employment (e.g. fisheries, and tourism) and recreation (e.g. diving). The inclusion of the marine environment in NC accounting is relatively new. Central to the NC framework, biodiversity is one of the most challenging aspects to account for. Here, we consider the potential for marine biodiversity to be included in NC accounts, and explain why this is in line with current policy directions towards achieving sustainability and well-being. We present a set of potential indicators that could be used to assess ecosystem extent and ecosystem condition through their biodiversity, and inform policies aimed to improve sustainability and human well-being. We conclude that including biological indicators in NC accounts will help to consider marine biodiversity conservation and economic activities in blue spaces as complementary components of well-being. NC accounts can facilitate decision-making by showing, in few interconnected tables, trends in the provision of biodiversity in a specific area and for specific ecosystems. This makes potential trade-offs between ecosystems, ecosystem services, and economic activities more apparent.
AB - Natural capital (NC) accounts measure and value the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans. Marine biodiversity supports human well-being directly by providing a source of food (e.g. wild fish), and indirectly by providing employment (e.g. fisheries, and tourism) and recreation (e.g. diving). The inclusion of the marine environment in NC accounting is relatively new. Central to the NC framework, biodiversity is one of the most challenging aspects to account for. Here, we consider the potential for marine biodiversity to be included in NC accounts, and explain why this is in line with current policy directions towards achieving sustainability and well-being. We present a set of potential indicators that could be used to assess ecosystem extent and ecosystem condition through their biodiversity, and inform policies aimed to improve sustainability and human well-being. We conclude that including biological indicators in NC accounts will help to consider marine biodiversity conservation and economic activities in blue spaces as complementary components of well-being. NC accounts can facilitate decision-making by showing, in few interconnected tables, trends in the provision of biodiversity in a specific area and for specific ecosystems. This makes potential trade-offs between ecosystems, ecosystem services, and economic activities more apparent.
KW - Ecosystem services
KW - Ecosystems
KW - Sustainable development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141431668&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10531-021-02342-0
DO - 10.1007/s10531-021-02342-0
M3 - Comment/debate
SN - 0960-3115
VL - 32
SP - 405
EP - 413
JO - Biodiversity and Conservation
JF - Biodiversity and Conservation
ER -