Project Duration – Feb. 2016-March 2017
IORA, in collaboration with IIFM carried out a research study on ‘Green Accounting of Forest Resources and Sustainable Environmental Performance Index’ for Uttarakhand, India. The study developed an accounting framework for natural resources and pioneered the development of an index for measuring sustainable environmental performance (SEPI) of Uttarakhand. The SEPI index allows year-on-year comparative analysis of the environmental achievements, challenges and priorities of the state, including state’s progress on environment related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It provides economic estimates for 21 forest-based ecosystem services and tracks relevant environmental indicators through Forest Resource Accounting (FRA) developed with reference to the United Nations’ System of Integrated Environment and Economic Accounting (UNSEEA, 2012) Central Framework. The study also demonstrated the application of Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade-offs (InVEST) for mapping ecosystem services.
