Ecosystem assets accounts
Ecosystem asset accounts measure the extent, condition and capacity of ecosystem assets. In order to do so, stocks of terrestrial ecosystems are classified based on soil, landscape and land cover features, while aquatic ecosystems are divided into fresh and marine waters. The land areas can be aggregated up following the Ecological Framework for Canada.
Given the advancement of spatial datasets and satellite image technologies, it is now possible to use more detailed land cover and land use information to better delineate stocks of ecosystems and track them over time. Techniques to create these types of accounts are still evolving, with only a few countries developing accounts in this area.
Statistics Canada does not produce a full set of ecosystem asset accounts at this time. The data that are available for this subject-matter area provide measures of the surface area of Canada by land cover type and land use, and present socio-economic information according to environmentally defined geographies. Many of these data are presented in the 2013 report “Measuring ecosystem goods and services in Canada," Human Activity and the Environment, and in subsequent editions of this publication (see below).
For further details on ecosystem asset accounting, see the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Experimental Ecosystem Accounting manual, Chapter 4.
The changing landscape of Canadian metropolitan areas - Human Activity and the Environment 2015
Freshwater in Canada - Human Activity and the Environment 2016
Forests in Canada - Human Activity and the Environment 2017
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