Ecosystem Value Accounts – Tools to Advance the Green Economy and Sustainability Agenda

The project will develop ecosystem value accounts of land owned by the forestry company Kenauk Canada ULC (Kenauk Canada) using a variety of ecological economic approaches. The emphasis is to capture the broader value of ecosystem goods and services as opposed to equating value with the price of standing timber. Approaches under consideration include: net primary productivity, development of biocapacity accounts, and development of ecosystem service indicators. The project will also contribute to economic and sustainability discourse by exploring the normative underpinnings of how we assign and determine ecosystem value.
Kenauk Canada recently took on the mandate of transforming from a traditional forestry business into a sustainable conservation operation. Kenauk Canada will use the accounts to communicate the ecological importance of land they own and inform the new strategic direction of the company. Communicating the ecological significance is further regarded as a key strategy to leverage partnerships with conservation groups and economic development agencies. In addition, the ecosystem value accounts will include a carbon inventory which will be used to explore participation in carbon trade. Kenauk Canada understands that environmental risks and climate induced changes require forestry companies to create new business models based on principles of integrity and sustainability.

Faculty Supervisor:

Raymond Paquin

Student:

Jeffrey Wilson

Partner:

Kenauk Canada ULC

Discipline:

Business

Sector:

Environmental industry

University:

Program: