BENGALURU: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) must not be the sole indicator of well-being, and the government must also strive to give importance to Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) to acknowledge and account for nature’s contribution to society and the well-being of people. This was one of the key recommendations submitted to the government after the conclusion of the lake symposium organised by the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science.
GEP is a fairly new concept and perhaps the earliest attempt at quantifying the value of ecological contributions along the lines of the concept of GDP was a study carried out in China between 2000 and 2015, and published in 2020. A similar project, called INCASE, is currently underway in Ireland. It entails accounting of bio-physical values of ecosystem goods and services.
Professor T V Ramachandra of the Centre for Ecological Sciences at IISc, said, “We do not have a widely used indicator to measure ecosystems contribution to human well-being. This (GEP) entails establishment of a natural capital accounting framework by integrating ecological benefits into criteria for performance evaluation of federal local governments. This would help in evolving appropriate eco-compensation policy based on ecosystem services.”
GEP reflects the aggregated annual value of goods and services provided by ecosystems (forests, water bodies, oceans, etc.) to people in a given region, such as at district levels, state and country. GEP provides the basis for determining financial compensation for the provision of ecosystem services toward facilitating sustainable development, he said.
The researchers also recommended that ecological units be identified at the panchayat level for areas that require conservation under Section 5(1) of the the Environment Protection Act 1986.Ramachandra said that the biodiversity management committees of most gram panchayats are ineffective even 18 years after the Biodiversity Act 2002 was passed. To rectify this, the researchers suggested that the zilla panchayats be made in-charge of the committees. It also suggested that students be involved in biodiversity documentation (inventorying and mapping of biological resources).
“As such a task involves applications of academic knowledge in making field surveys and interviews, to be carried out under the guidance of teachers, the conference recommends that academic credits should be given to students working for such projects. This also aids in capacity building and empowering youngsters with the knowledge of vital ecosystems functions, goods and services,” he said.