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

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.