Webinar on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services

Government of India

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Government of India

Webinar on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services

January 6, 2026

About the Event

On 6 January 2026, the River Cities Alliance (RCA) organised a webinar on Natural Capital Accounting and Valuation of Ecosystem Services as part of its ongoing knowledge series. The session explored how Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) can support cities and planners in making more informed, long-term decisions by recognising and valuing the ecological benefits provided by rivers and other natural systems.

The expert speaker for the webinar, Dr. T. V. Ramachandra, presented insights on the application of NCAVES through the case study of the Mula–Mutha River catchment in Pune. The discussion was contextualised within the broader global environmental crisis, including biodiversity loss, droughts, coral bleaching, and sea-level rise. Anchored in the SEEA framework, the session demonstrated how ecosystem accounting can quantify ecosystem services and ecological degradation, highlighting the interconnections between catchment health, livelihoods, and urban resilience.

The webinar emphasised how tools such as Natural Capital Accounting enable the valuation of ecosystem services—provisioning, regulating, and cultural—contributing to broader indicators such as Gross Ecological Product (GEP). It also highlighted the use of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and remote sensing to assess forest fragmentation, catchment integrity, and ecosystem conditions at basin scales.

Key learnings from the session underscored that ecological degradation directly impacts ecosystem services and human well-being, reinforcing the need for systematic valuation and accounting. The discussion also highlighted the dependence of local livelihoods on healthy ecosystems through services such as non-timber forest produce, and the importance of integrating ecological value into planning and decision-making. Overall, the webinar reinforced the need for prioritising river-sensitive and ecologically grounded approaches in urban development and planning.