Australia’s coastline is home to some of the most diverse seascapes in the world. Ecosystems like those around the St Vincent and Spencer Gulfs benefit millions of Australians, providing seafood, health and recreation, water quality improvement, coastal protection and removal and storage of carbon. Until recently, very little information has been available to make the case for their restoration. This is where accounting for the dollar value of the benefits they provide can help. Creating accounts for the ecosystem services that are improved through restoration can help guide decision making around restoration at all levels. In this presentation, the role of accounting and economics in showcasing ecosystem services that are improved through restoration will be discussed and the role that accounting can play in guiding restoration decision making will be demonstrated.
About Associate Professor Jo Tingey-Holyoak
Joanne is Associate Professor and Professorial Lead of Accounting at UniSA. Since completing a PhD in agricultural water management on an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project in 2012, Joanne has produced over 70 publications based on original studies of how to use accounting frameworks to improve water-related decision making at all levels, including through developing user-friendly water decision making tools and water management policy.
Joanne is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant (FCPA), Chartered Accountant (CA), and Certified Practicing Agriculturalist (CPAg) and sits on the Executive of the Food and Climate Systems Transformation (FACT) Alliance led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is also Associate Editor of Australasian Journal of Water Resources, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, and Accounting Forum, and has received several distinctions, such as the 2013 Emerald Social Impact Award, 2020 Literati Award and Visiting Fellowships to MIT and the Australian Accounting Standards Board (ASSB).
Joanne has several long-term industry collaborations, a global World Bank dam study, and a recent CPA Australia climate and food sector study. Joanne is currently working with Flinders University on developing a set of UN-SEEA Ecosystem Accounts on a Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Blue Carbon Ecosystem Project led by Flinders University.
