NCI at the CSO Ecosystem Accounts Stakeholder Forum in Dublin

Natural Capital Ireland was delighted to participate in the CSO's Ecosystem Account's Stakeholder Forum in Glasnevin, Dublin on May 15, and present findings from our INCASE project.

Team NCI...INCASE's Dr Catherine Farrell, TCD's Prof Jane Stout, NCI Exec Coordinator Iseult Sheehy, NCI Researcher Dr Emer Ni Dhuill and Dr Deirdre Lynn of NPWS at the CSO event

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) hosted a national Ecosystem Accounts Stakeholder Forum on May 15th, 2023, in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin. This in-person event brought together national stakeholder agencies and national and international experts in ecosystem accounting to discuss the implementation of ecosystem accounting in Ireland.

NCI was in attendance on the day - among the speakers was our co-founder Prof Jane Stout, Trinity College Dublin, providing the broader context for Ecosystem Accounting. There followed updates on the latest developments in the EU by our colleague in the Netherlands, Prof Lars Hein of Wageningen University, while Dr Alessandra La Notte, Joint Research Council spoke on work accounting for ecosystem services at European Level via the INCA Project. Nova Sharkey updated on the CSO's work on the implementation of Ecosystem Accounting in Ireland in accordance with EU legislation and national plans.

The afternoon session saw a presentation on our INCASE project (Irish Natural Capital Accounting for Sustainable Environments) by the project's lead ecologist Dr Catherine Farrell. Our pioneering four-year project, applying natural capital accounting in Ireland at catchment level, is now nearing completion, with a final report submitted to our funders the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and we are awaiting feedback and publication.

There followed a talk on valuation of Ireland’s marine ecosystem services in the context of Natural Capital Accounting by Prof Stephen Hynes, University of Galway and some words on the National Land Cover Map by the EPA's Gavin Smith. The final part of the day was devoted to an interactive workshop on Data for Ecosystem Accounting in Ireland, with a lively group discussion following a presentation on Data Sources and Data Gaps for the Implementation of Ecosystem Accounts by the CSO's Sylvie Clappe.

The outcomes of the event will help inform the progression of Ireland's national ecosystem accounts - so stay tuned to NCI for more information. Sign up to our newsletter HERE.