Biodiversity is an important part of Uganda’s natural capital stock. The interaction of species and ecosystems (as components of biodiversity generally) deliver a variety of ecosystem services that directly and indirectly contribute to national development and the livelihoods of Ugandans. The sustainable use of the stocks of ecosystems and the species they contain is fundamental to maximizing economic growth and human well-being in Uganda over the medium to long terms. However, the services provided by these aspects of biodiversity are typically provided outside of markets. This results an undervaluation of ecosystems and species, and in the omission of the depletion of natural capital stocks in traditional national accounts of economic progress.

The National Development Plan II (NDP II) for Uganda explicitly recognises the need for rational and sustainable use of the environment and natural resources in pursuit of sustained economic growth and socio-economic transformation. Integrating the environment and natural resources into the national accounting system is identified as a key intervention in this regard. This can also inform a number of other key policy initiatives in Uganda, including Uganda’s Green Growth Strategy, National Environmental Management Policy and National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, among others. The System of Environmental-Economic Accounting - Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA-EEA, 2014), has been developed in response to such demands for integrated environmental and economic accounts. Biodiversity accounting is one of the several accounting themes within the SEEA-EEA.

This feasibility study is the product of a joint initiative between UNEP-WCMC, NPA and NEMA. This document presents the results of a feasibility study for biodiversity accounting in Uganda. Specifically, the potential to construct Species Accounts and accounts of changes in ecosystem extent (Ecosystem Extent Accounts) is evaluated. This has been informed by desk based assessment, a series of stakeholder engagements and inquiries and a stakeholder workshop in Kampala in January 2016. The study is based on the approach to constructing Species Accounts presented in UNEP-WCMC (2016), which should be read in conjunction with this document.