Environmental accounting : Copernicea

Feedback from the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) on the regional workshop for sharing best practices on Ecosystem Accounting of Natural Capital (EACN) held in Rabat in early July (lien)

On this occasion, ONF International co-hosted two workshops with members of Copernicea (COoPEration Régionale pour de Nouveaux Indicateurs de Comptabilité Écosystémique du capital naturel en Afrique), an AFD-funded project to be launched in 2020. The Copernicea project aims to support 6 countries (Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Morocco, Niger, Senegal and Tunisia) in the production of ecosystem-based accounting (ENCA).

ONFI supported OSS in putting the results of its environmental accounting online via a webmapping platform similar to Forland.

At present, only the AfrikENCA accounts (ENCA accounts applied to the entire African continent) have been completed. At the same time, each country is being supported by OSS to produce its own accounts with national data, generally more accurate, by the end of the project. The countries concerned are now convinced of the importance of these accounts, especially as this is one of the new commitments made at COP15, held in Montreal in December 2022.

After a presentation of the platform, the meetings facilitated by ONFI enabled the consultancy to share its experience of using the CECN in its projects. They also helped define a plan to raise awareness among decision-makers of the importance of ecosystem accounting as a method for establishing relevant indicators for measuring progress and valuing natural capital. This national reporting is an excellent tool for monitoring/evaluating and managing ecosystem issues specific to each country.

The workshop ended with a brainstorming session aimed at imagining the main activities of a follow-up to this project, Copernicea 2, which would continue the current initiative and strengthen the CECN’s foothold in Africa.