We’re developing a foundation of standards and financial best practices to support consistent, scalable approaches to managing natural assets and infrastructure.
This will allow a market sector for natural asset management to emerge and for the practice to become a staple across Canada.
When ‘natural asset management’ means the same thing everywhere, it’s easier to:
- Ensure that practical, quality nature-based solutions are widely accessible
- Collaborate across jurisdictions and ecosystems
- Fund natural and green infrastructure projects
- Develop education and training opportunities
- Improve the practice of NAM
STANDARDS
NAI is supporting the creation of a full set of national standards for natural asset inventories, beginning with our contributions to the first national standard released in 2023.
Standards offer a baseline approach to natural asset management from which innovators can grow and expand the practice. The road to natural standards for NAM begins with practical activities and projects and evolves when we identify good practices — over time, these lessons and experiences provide the foundation for new standards. NAI is exploring the development of several new standards.
FINANCE
While there is growing recognition of just how valuable nature is to our economy and wellbeing, nature’s services are often not accounted for in investment or infrastructure decisions the way that built assets are.
Overlooking these values means that governments and businesses may make ill-informed decisions that degrade natural assets and their services, rather than investing in nature to benefit long-term, both economically and socially.
NAI is working to expand current regulations and norms to ensure nature and its valuable services can be reported on and reflected in standard accounting practices.
- As of 2024, NAI is collaborating with KPMG and the Intact Centre on Climate Adaptation to develop recommendations and guidance related to natural assets for local governments with the Public Sector Accounting Board.
- To support communities today, NAI publishes best practices to financially recognize ecosystem services, and is exploring conservation finance models through the Investing in Watersheds pilot project.
NAI’s Investing in Watersheds is an innovative project that aims to generate significant private sector investment in natural assets by combining outcome-based financing with a common asset trust model. It is based on the multi-year Grindstone Creek project.
In Phase 2 the project, we aim to secure funding to support a dedicated project facilitator who will work closely with a range of partners in the Grindstone Creek, Ontario, area and beyond to advance this important work.
-
Advancing Municipal Natural Asset Management Through Financial Planning and Reporting
Learning from the Town of Gibsons’ experience. This summary is part of a series designed to provide local governments with easy-to-access information…
-
The Town of Gibsons’ Experience in Financial Planning and Reporting
Advancing Municipal Natural Asset Management In the Town of Gibsons, natural assets play an essential role in our infrastructure system. Our foreshore…
-
Case Study: Valuation of the Stormwater Management Services in Whitetower Park Ponds
Economic valuation of the stormwater management services provided by the Whitetower Park ponds, Gibsons, BC The town of Gibsons, British Columbia is…
