November 2014: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) – India Initiative (TII) has launched the TII ‘Interim Report Working Document.’ The publication compiles 12 case studies on the three ecosystems (forests, inland wetlands and coastal and marine ecosystems) and illustrates approaches for applying ecosystem services economics to improve conservation planning and policy making.

In addition to a synthesis of approaches and methodologies across the three ecosystem types, the report provides an overview of the ways in which TII supports the achievement of India’s national biodiversity targets, in-line with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) Aichi Biodiversity Targets and Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.

The publication has five sections: an introductory section that sets the background for the pilot studies, followed by three chapters grouping the case studies on “Forests,” “Inland Wetlands” and “Coastal and Marine Ecosystems,” and a closing chapter on the “Way Forward.”

According to the text, the report supports the establishment of policy paradigms that recognize, demonstrate and realize benefits from India’s biodiversity and natural resources and, through its findings, provides the basis for academic and research institutions to establish an interdisciplinary school of thought on the economics of biodiversity. The TEEB-TTI was “launched by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with the aim of highlighting the economic consequences of loss of biological diversity and associated decline in ecosystem services.” [Publication: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity India Initiative Interim Report Working Document]