Who Speaks for the River? Exploring Biodiversity Accounting using an Arena Approach

Abstract

First paragraph: In confronting the unsustainability of human activity and attempting to define a ‘safe operating space’ for humanity, Rockstrom et al. (2009) estimate that biodiversity loss is one of nine planetary boundaries that have already been transgressed. The United Nations’ Millennium Ecosystem Assessment has extensively documented the extent to which ecosystems have been rapidly altered and global biodiversity has been subject to negative change (UNEP, 2005). Concerns over ecosystem degradation have led to the emergence of international agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992). These agreements seek to establish policy frameworks for biodiversity and encourage recognition of ecosystem services and biodiversity within decision-making (for example TEEB, 2009). A range of ecological indicators and economic analyses are being developed as metrics to account for biodiversity and to engage with policy-makers and businesses (TEEB 2011; 2012), and forms of environmental reporting have been recognised as a potentially important means to recognise and measure the value of the natural environment (Thompson & Mackey 2010; Mackey & Galbraith 2011).