The Department of Environment (DOE), supported by the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), has produced the first national Natural Capital Account (NCA) for Anguilla, measuring the benefit that the environment provides to Anguilla1. The recently completed NCA for 2018 found that the environment supports over EC$ 200 million2 annually to Anguilla through tourism, fishing, agriculture, hazard protection and recreational benefits to residents3. The initial account presents preliminary results and lays the foundation for improved management of Anguilla’s environment. A workshop was conducted on March 27th and 28th to build capacity for government practitioners to further develop and use NCA to inform policy and planning.
Natural Capital Accounting is a way of managing the environment, by combining ecological and economic data to better understand the value that our environment provides. This is done through the production of structured accounts which can be used to inform policy and planning decisions. By using the principles of environmental economics to understand the value of the environment, NCA is a leading-edge approach to monitoring the benefits of a nation’s environmental assets, in parallel to other national accounts, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which measures the value of a nation’s economy. Better environmental management, informed by these accounts, can create benefits such as enhanced coastal protection, greater tourism potential, increased fish populations, a reduction in erosion, sustainable material production, and better air and water quality. This will improve both the sustainability of a nation’s environment, and the prosperity of its people.
The objective of the workshop was to provide knowledge and skills to facilitate the introduction and utilisation of NCA in Anguilla and how it may be applied to create meaningful impact in policy and planning. As such, practitioners gain experience in collecting, processing and linking data collection activities to the decision-making processes. The workshop was designed for cross-department technical experts from within the Government of Anguilla to build capacity so that practitioners are equipped with the ability to take the NCA process forward in Anguilla. This work began with the development of the NCA for 2018, leading to a strategy to further improve and embed NCA to help support effective decision-making from 2019 and beyond. This is an important step leading towards the incremental handover of the NCA process to operate fully within the Government of Anguilla through future iterations.
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1 For further details on the Natural Capital Accounting process, see the report “Natural Capital Accounting in the UK Overseas Territories: A Guide”, available from the Department of Environment, Anguilla.
2 This is a preliminary result and subject to change; however, the approach is thought to be conservative, and gaps remain, so the overall value is likely to be greater.
3 For further details on Anguilla’s 2018 NCA, see the upcoming report “Anguilla Natural Capital Accounting”, soon to be available from the Department of Environment, Anguilla.
