Poster fot the IEARE conference, Udine 2019

1. Applying Environmental Accounting for assessing the value4money of
Miramare Marine Protected Area
Francesca Visintin* , Elisa Tomasinsig*, Maurizio Spoto+, Saul Ciriaco+, Donatella Samec+
* = eFrame ltd + = WWF – MATTM – Miramare Marine Protected Area
Discussion
Introduction
Protected Areas (PAs) are financed by public funds which are gradually cut. Since the last 2014 the Italian
Ministry of the Environment is working on the “Ecorendiconto project” asking Marine Protected Areas
(MPAs) to account for expenses and to assess the worth produced by MPAs.
The starting point for natural capital accounting is represented by the System of integrated Environmental
and Economic Accounting – Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA) (United Nations et al., 2014)
which refers to the System of National Accounts. The hypothesis proposed by La Notte et al. (2019) as regard
the SEEA EEA is to consider ecosystem units as institutional units, to be intended not only as input provider
but to be measured with respect to production, consumption and changes.
Starting from the conceptual frame of the SEEA EEA, and downscaling the approach from the national to the
local level, we proposed and tested the same hypothesis: considering PAs as institutional units. For this
purpose, the PA environmental accounting model has been developed (Marangon et al., 2008; Visintin et al.,
2016). The model is based on a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA).
The research on which the paper reports illustrates the model highlighting what and how much value the
Miramare MPA is able to create from the money allocated by government and funding bodies.
Methodology
PAs have been considered as organizations. Organizations usually have an internal accounting system known
as financial statement taking into account the stock and flow of resources. Stock refers to the value of an asset
at a balance date, while flow refers to the total value of transactions during an accounting period. Stocks and
flows are related because the stock of resources available is usually increased by the flow of new investment
and depleted by the flow of depreciation.
This accounting approach was extended to the natural capital developing a tailor-made environmental
accounting model for the PA (Marangon et al., 2008; Visintin et al., 2016). The model is based on two main
accounts: Natural stock account and Natural flow account. As is the case for organizations, the aim of the
environmental accounting system is to take into account resources in the PA both consumed and produced.
The model aimed to supplement monetary accounting with environmental accounting which reflects
environmental costs by assessing the impact of the institutional activity and the authorized activities in terms
of CO2 emission, and environmental benefits by assessing the economic value of Ecosystem Services (ES).
The difference between economic and environmental costs and benefits represents the Net Benefit and the
value produced or consumed by the PA. Table 1 shows the environmental accounting model, and includes the
natural capital dimension (Natural stock account) and the flow dimension (Natural flow account).
Table 1: Environmental accounting model of Protected Areas
ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTING MODEL OF PROTECTED AREAS
Natural stock account Natural flow account
Costs Benefits
Qualitative analysis
• Ecosystem asset (structure and condition)
Economic
• PA Costs
Economic
• PA Revenues
Quantitative analysis
• ES Capacity indicators
as defined by CICES, for ex.:
-Fish abundance
-C sequestration potential
Environmental
• Impact of PA authority
• Impact of activities
Environmental
• ES Flow & Benefit indicators as
defined by CICES, for ex.:
-Fish and shellfish sales (€/a)
-Market values of carbon (€)
∑= PA net benefits produced/consumed
Results
The Miramare MPA provides a series of fundamental services for the constituents of human well-being.
Expressing the value of ES in monetary units is an important tool for policy-makers helping them assess the
financial value for money and make effective decisions on resource allocation between competing uses.
With reference to the methodology, the environment is considered in the economic accounting system by
analyzing natural resources and their ES and by assessing the impact of activities carried out inside the PA
through the LCA.
From an analytical perspective, the PA natural flow account is compared to the contribution allocated by the
Ministry of Environment. The calculation of the public funding /total benefits ratio of the Miramare MPA
shows that one euro spent for protection returns a value of 18 euro expressed
in terms of environmental, social and economic benefits.
From a policy perspective, the model developed provides a framework for managing both economic and
environmental information, through which the contribution of the environment to the economy and the
impact of the economy on the environment can be analyzed. This is intended to meet policy-makers’ needs,
by providing them with indicators and statistics to monitor interactions between the economy and the
environment, and to be a tool for strategic planning and policy analysis so as to identify more sustainable
development paths.
As regards costs, the CO2 equivalent emission of the authorized activities amounted to t/a 246 and to €/a
9.099 which was assessed by multiplying the CO2 by the Social Cost of Carbon.
As regards benefits, ES are assessed. The Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services-CICES
(Haines-Young & Potschin, 2013) is adopted and the ES assessed by applying the flow and benefit indicators
suggested by CICES as shown in Table 2.
Environmental cost and benefits have been added to economic cost and revenues. Summing up the figures,
the Net Benefit amounted to € 4.377.766 (Table 3).
Table 3: Natural flow account and Net Benefit of Miramare Marine Protected Areas
NATURAL FLOW ACCOUNT OF MIRAMARE MARINE PROTECTED AREA
COSTS (€) BENEFITS (€)
Environmental Costs 9.099 Environmental Benefits 4.394.649
Protected area management & diving 1.039 Wild animals 106.085
Professional fishing 800 Climate regulation 54.303
Recreational fishing 1.239 Experiental use 188.703
Boating 6.021 Physical use 4.045.557
Scientific 128.633*
Educational 248.313*
Economic Costs 516.866 Economic Revenues 469.083
Public funding (Ministry of Environment) 261.977 Public funding (Ministry of Environment) 236.585
of which Management 135.840
Other public funding 82.871 Public funding 77.329
Self-financing 172.018 Self-financing 155.169
Total Costs 525.965 Total Benefits 4.863.732
NET BENEFIT 4.337.766
* = already included in the Self-financing
References
Haines-Young R., Potschin M. (2013), CICES V4.3 – Revised report prepared following consultation on CICES Version 4, August-December 2012. EEA Framework
Contract No EEA/IEA/09/003.
La Notte A., Vallecillo S., Marques A., Maes J. (2019), Beyond the economic boundaries to account for ecosystem services, “Ecosystem Services”, n. 35, pp 116-129.
Marangon, F., Spoto, M. and Visintin, F. (2008), An Environmental Accounting Model for a Natural Reserve, in Schaltegger, S., Bennett, M., Burritt, R.L. and Jasch, C.
(ed.) Environmental Management Accounting for Cleaner Production, Series Eco-Efficiency in Industry and Science, Vol. 24, Springer Netherlands, pp. 267-282,
ISBN: 978-1-4020-8912-1.
United Nations, European Union, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Group, World
Bank (2014), System of Environmental-Economic Accounting 2012—Experimental Ecosystem Accounting. United Nations, New York.
Visintin F., Marangon F., Spoto M. (2016), Assessing the value for money of protected areas, “Review of Studies on Sustainability”, July 2016, pp 49-69, DOI:
10.3280/RISS2016-001006.
Photos: Miramare MPA.
In 2015 the environmental accounting model was applied to the Miramare MPA.
Natural stock account
Natural stock account is set up based on a long time series. Data referred to natural
resource quality, i.e. diversity based on the biological classification used to group and
categorize organisms into groups such as genus or species, and quantity, i.e.
density assessed through the visual census.
Natural flow account
The natural flow account is based on the monetization of the environmental costs and
benefits.
Table 2: Ecosystem Services value of the Miramare MPA
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ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS
IMPACTS FLOW INDICATOR COST INDICATOR
Impact of PA authority activities CO2eq emissions Social Cost of Carbon (€/t CO2)
Impact of economic operators act CO2eq emissions Social Cost of Carbon (€/t CO2)
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
ECOSYSTEM SERVICE FLOW INDICATOR BENEFIT INDICATOR
Wild animals and their outputs Commercial fish/shellfish landing (t/a) Fish and shellfish sales (€/a)
Mass stabilization and control of
erosion rates
Indices based on wave regime, tidal
range, relative sea level, storm surge
Replacement/avoided cost for
shoreline protection, (€/ha, €/a)
Global climate regulation Seagrass storage (gC/m2/a) Social Cost of Carbon (€/t CO2)
Experiential use Visitors flow, recreation trips Willingness to Pay
Physical use Recreational activities Total expenditures, FTE
Scientific Project and research activities Project and research budget
Educational Educational activities Educational activities budget