fig congress 2018 - Unlocking the natural capital premium in international land valuation
Fiona Mannix
African wilderness areas and environments are under threat and the assets needs to be valued, benchmarked and tracked to protect them from misuse, abuse and loss. Africa is heavily reliant on its natural capital and resources for wealth creation but this needs to be quantified to negotiate investment projects that are sustainable and fair for stakeholders. The ability to be able to unlock the value in these natural capital assets through sustainable tourism, real estate and resource development is the key to catalysing a low impact high value rural economy. However, natural capital valuation is currently struggling to gain traction as a concept for a variety of reasons not least because; • It is too subjective and not directly economically attributable or market based • It is not recognised at a regulatory and policy valuation, environmental or accounting level • It is not directly accounted for by investors when making a risk managed investment decision There are differing definitions and terminology of what it is - no consistent or recognisable approach There are differing methods - no clear categories, metrics or approach to valuation. There is a market of private and public conservation and commercial projects who are seeking to quantify the natural capital of their assets for transactional, development and management purposes. There is a clear opportunity to lead the world in setting and applying a consistent, recognised and defendable approach to natural capital valuation. RICS has two papers in this area "Challenges for international professional practice; from market value to natural value" and "Value of natural capital - the need for chartered surveyors". The third paper from RICS, which will result in an international guidance note, develops our earlier work, has a global remit, market focus and utilises Africa as a relevant geographical region to help inform thinking. The guidance will enable the valuer to quantifiably value the natural capital in a portfolio as a promotional tool and maximise the natural capital of an asset. By enabling quantification of natural capital this will also assist in satisfying reporting requirements for conservation values.
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