Ecosystem accounting through first nations' lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems

Silva Larson; Diane Jarvis; Ewamian People Aboriginal Corp RNTBC and the Ewamian Ltd; Tagalaka Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC; Ryan Barrowei; Daniel Grainger; Glenn Finau; Natalie Stoeckl; Michael Douglas

doi:10.1007/s13280-025-02274-x

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Ecosystem accounting through first nations' lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Ecosystem accounting through first nations' lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems

Silva Larson, Diane Jarvis, Ewamian People Aboriginal Corp RNTBC and the Ewamian Ltd, Tagalaka Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, Ryan Barrowei, Daniel Grainger, Glenn Finau, Natalie Stoeckl and Michael Douglas

Ambio, Vol.55, pp.803-816

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-025-02274-x

PMID: 41240230

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Abstract

Australia

ecosystem services

nature-based solutions

natural capital accounting

SEEA EA

traditional knowledge

UniSC Diversity Area - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement

The UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting-Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EA) provides a framework for integrating information about the environment and the economy, organising information about ecosystems, measuring ecosystem services, and tracking change. We explore how SEEA-EA can incorporate First Nations' conceptualisation of nature and cultural connections to traditional lands. We identify multiple entry avenues, propose key principles and suggest steps to enhance relevance of the SEEA-EA to First Nations, principally: stock accounts should reflect aspects of Country that First Nations deem important; flow accounts should depict services they consider the most significant; and, stocks and flows should be measured using physical, subjective and monetary metrics that they deem appropriate. Respectful partnership with First Nations group(s) whose Country is being accounted for-centred on their priorities and values-would yield multiple benefits. We recommend that these ideas, alongside other possible approaches, be developed and tested with First Nations groups across diverse geographic and cultural contexts.

Details

Title: Ecosystem accounting through first nations' lenses: Integrating the SEEA-EA and Indigenous knowledge systems
Authors: Silva Larson (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Diane Jarvis - James Cook University
Ewamian People Aboriginal Corp RNTBC and the Ewamian Ltd (Author)
Tagalaka Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC (Author)
Ryan Barrowei
Daniel Grainger - James Cook University
Glenn Finau - University of Tasmania
Natalie Stoeckl - University of Tasmania
Michael Douglas - The University of Western Australia
Publication details: Ambio, Vol.55, pp.803-816
Publisher: Springer Cham
Date published: 2026
DOI: 10.1007/s13280-025-02274-x
ISSN: 1654-7209
PMID: 41240230
Copyright note: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Grant note: This work was supported with funding from the Australian Government under the National Environmental Science Program’s Resilient Landscapes Hub (Project 5.1 Environmental Economic Accounting—Developing & trialling approaches for accounting to ensure respectful inclusion of First Nations knowledges) and through its Northern Australia Environmental Resources Hub (Project 6.3.3 Valuing Indigenous cultural connections); and with the funding from the Government of Canada’s International Climate Finance Initiative and the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada (Project ID 110332).
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991192142302621
Output Type: Journal article

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