Improving
decision-making for sustainability by forging
closer links between economists and environmentalists
was the objective of an international workshop
held in Copenhagen today. The workshop addressed
better international cooperation between key international
institutions. Landscapes are as much idealised
vision as reality. The way we perceive landscapes,
the attraction we feel to some of them, and our
feelings when conflicts arise over the use of
land, are all matters of extreme importance for
conservation and future human welfare. A landscape
is essentially a photograph of what is going on;
it reveals, in short, who we are. At the same
time landscapes are also dynamic expressions of
continually changing natural processes (climatic,
physical, biological) and changes caused by human
activity.
Landscape analysis requires
the consideration of different factors not equally
easy to apply. The spatial dimension must be considered,
as must the temporal component. It is especially
important to know both where and when change is
happening, given the uneven distribution and value
of ecological goods and services across Europe,
the vast range of activities that impact on them
and the changing character and intensity of these
impacts over time.
Land and Ecosystem Accounting
(LEAC) is a powerful tool that helps us to better
understand and protect the environment. Land and
ecosystem accounts are systemic descriptions of
how related assets change over time and space
(where an asset is anything valuable or useful).
It works by providing a single overview where
the social, economic and environmental resources
on which our wellbeing depends can be linked within
a single framework.
“Land and Ecosystem Accounting
provides the overview that we need to better protect
and maintain our natural capital; both now and
into the future”, said Professor Jacqueline McGlade,
Executive Director of the EEA. Professor McGlade
was co-chairing the International workshop on
ecosystem and natural capital accounting together
with Mr Ivo Havinga, Chief Economic Statistics
Branch, UN Statistical Division.
A short summary is available
in conjunction with the workshop, as well as the
new EEA Technical report, “Land accounts for Europe
11000-2000 - Towards integrated land and ecosystem
accounting” which was launched today.
“The accounting framework will
eventually allow us to connect the natural system
to the economic system”, said Mr Ronan Uhel, Head
of the EEA Spatial Analysis group. “These accounts
are tools that help us understand how well the
environment would be able to withstand change
and still provide us with the services and resources
we need in the future”.
