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Welcome to the NCMC

The Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue (NCMC) is an open, scientifically rigorous resource for users to identify suitable metrics, methods and data sources for the measurement of natural capital assets, flows of services or benefits, and organisational impacts or dependencies on nature.

Terms and Conditions: The Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue is presented for the purpose of disseminating information free of charge for the benefit of the public.

Given the research nature of the NCMC, this content is not and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. This website is not a substitute for independent professional advice and users should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances.

Use of the information and data contained within this site or these pages is at your sole risk. You accept all risks and responsibility for losses, damages, costs and other consequences resulting directly or indirectly from using this site and any information or material available from it.

By using the NCMC, you agree that Climateworks Centre will not be liable or responsible (including arising from its negligence) to any parties for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising out of any person using or relying upon the information in connection with the NCMC and Climateworks Centre disclaims all liability and responsibility arising therefrom.

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Natural Capital
Measurement Catalogue
Version 2.0  - 
October 2024
  • Home
  • Search & Filter
  • Natural Capital Accounting
    • Overview
    • Environmental Assets
      • Overview
      • Mineral and energy resources
        • Oil resources
        • Natural gas resources
        • Coal and peat resources
        • Non-metallic mineral resources (excluding coal and peat resources)
        • Metallic mineral resources
      • Land
      • Soil resources
      • Timber resources
        • Cultivated timber resources
        • Natural timber resources
      • Aquatic resources
        • Cultivated aquatic resources
        • Natural aquatic resources
      • Other biological resources (excluding timber resources and aquatic resources)
      • Water resources
        • Surface water
        • Ground water
        • Soil water
    • Ecosystem Assets
      • Overview
      • Terrestrial
        • Native forests and woodlands
        • Other native vegetation
        • Rangelands, savannas and native grasslands
        • Annual croplands
        • Sown pastures
        • Plantations
        • Native pastures
      • Freshwater – Terrestrial
        • Wetlands
      • Freshwater
        • Rivers, streams and riparian zones
        • Lakes, dams and reservoirs
      • Other Realms
  • Natural Capital Assessment
    • Overview
    • Impacts
      • Overview
      • Water
        • Water use
          • Plant water use
          • Consumptive water use
        • Water quality
      • Weather and climate
        • Extreme weather
        • Bushfire
        • Temperature
      • Land and soil
        • Soil quality
        • Fertiliser/soil ameliorant use
        • Contamination and waste
      • Biodiversity and ecosystems
        • Biodiversity and ecosystems
        • Weeds
        • Pests and diseases
        • Animal welfare
      • Mineral and energy resources
        • Energy use
      • Atmosphere
        • Greenhouse gas emissions/removals
        • Other air emissions/removals
        • Other atmospheric pollution
    • Dependencies
      • Overview
      • Water
        • Water availability
          • Water availability (rainfall)
          • Water rights (extracted surface or groundwater)
        • Water quality
      • Weather and climate
        • Temperature
        • Extreme weather
        • Bushfire
      • Land and soil
        • Soil quality
        • Fertiliser/soil ameliorant use
        • Contamination and waste
      • Biodiversity and ecosystems
        • Biodiversity and ecosystems
        • Pests and diseases
        • Weeds
        • Animal welfare
      • Mineral and energy resources
        • Energy demand
      • Atmosphere
        • Greenhouse gas emissions
        • Other air emissions
  • Data sources
  • About the NCMC
  • User Guide
  • Glossary & Abbreviations
  • Spreadsheet Version
Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue

The creation of the NCMC was facilitated by Climateworks Centre with the support of the Macdoch Foundation.

The Macdoch Foundation logo

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  • Terms & Conditions
Privacy policy ©climateworks2025

Given the research nature of the NCMC, this content is not and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. By using the NCMC, you agree that Climateworks Centre will not be liable or responsible (including arising from its negligence) to any parties for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising out of any person using or relying upon the information in connection with the NCMC and Climateworks Centre disclaims all liability and responsibility arising therefrom.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Site design and build by Yoke

Bureau of Meteorology – Australian Groundwater Explorer

Natural Capital Measurement Catalogue

The creation of the NCMC was facilitated by Climateworks Centre with the support of the Macdoch Foundation.

The Macdoch Foundation logo

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.

  • Terms & Conditions
Privacy policy ©climateworks2025

Given the research nature of the NCMC, this content is not and should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional advisors. By using the NCMC, you agree that Climateworks Centre will not be liable or responsible (including arising from its negligence) to any parties for any loss, damage, cost or expense incurred or arising out of any person using or relying upon the information in connection with the NCMC and Climateworks Centre disclaims all liability and responsibility arising therefrom.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Site design and build by Yoke

What are tiers?

Natural capital can be measured in many different ways, by different users for different purposes. The Catalogue allocates methods and data sources to three tiers, corresponding to different user needs and approaches to measurement.

Monetary flows

The term ‘monetary flows’ is used in this Catalogue to refer to monetary equivalents of physical flows.

Physical flows

The term ‘physical flows’ is used in this Catalogue to refer to physical measures of the supply by environmental or ecosystem assets and use by economic units such as households, business or government of both physical goods (such as minerals, energy, water, or biological products) and intangible services (such as water purification or flood control services).

Condition

Ecosystem condition is the quality of an ecosystem measured in terms of its abiotic and biotic characteristics.

Impact
Extent

Ecosystem extent means the size of an ecosystem asset in terms of spatial area.

Dependency
Quality

Quality of an environmental asset can refer to any physical characteristics of the asset that are relevant to its use or value.

Quantity

Quantity of an environmental asset means the physical amount of the asset at a given point in time.

Example data sources

Suggested examples are not prescriptive. Data sources should be selected that are appropriate to the context of what is being measured, and the desired purpose.

Example methods / guidance / references

Suggested examples are not prescriptive. Measurement methods should be selected that are appropriate to the context of what is being measured, and the desired purpose.

Intermediate or final

Ecosystem services can be classified as intermediate or final depending on whether the user of the ecosystem service is an ecosystem asset (intermediate ecosystem services) or an economic unit such as households, business or government (final ecosystem services).

SEEA ES sub-type

Ecosystem services are generally categorised into three broad categories: provisioning services, regulating and maintenance services, and cultural services. These are further subdivided into various types and sub-types, as per Table 6.3 in SEEA-EA 2021.

SEEA ECT Class

The SEEA Ecosystem Condition Typology (SEEA ECT) is a hierarchical classification system for organising data on ecosystem condition, consisting of six classes grouped into three main groups (abiotic, biotic and landscape-level ecosystem characteristics).

Example target

Suggested examples are not prescriptive. Targets should be selected that are appropriate to the context of what is being measured, and the desired purpose.

Related framework / metric

Metrics from some other frameworks that appear to be closely related to the Catalogue metric are listed here. Coverage of other frameworks is limited and it should be noted that other frameworks may have different definitions or interpretations of terms, or apply in different contexts.

Units

Suggestions for units are not prescriptive. Specific units and the scale of units should be selected that are appropriate to the context of what is being measured.

Type (Impact metrics)

Type of impact metric refers to the stage of the impact pathway that a metric relates to, such as whether it is a pressure, impact driver, state or response metric.

Type (Env assets)

Type of ecosystem condition metric includes ecosystem condition variables (quantitative metrics describing individual characteristics of an ecosystem asset), indicators (rescaled versions of variables) and indices (composite or aggregate indicators).

Type (Condition metrics)

Type of ecosystem condition metric includes ecosystem condition variables (quantitative metrics describing individual characteristics of an ecosystem asset), indicators (rescaled versions of variables) and indices (composite or aggregate indicators).

Tier 3
Tier 2
Tier 1
Flows (benefits)

Stocks and flows are fundamental, related concepts in accounting. Stocks refer to the total quantity of something at a given point in time, whereas flows are quantities measured over a period of time.

Stocks (assets)

Stocks and flows are fundamental, related concepts in accounting. Stocks refer to the total quantity of something at a given point in time, whereas flows are quantities measured over a period of time.

Version 2.0

New features include:

  • Welcome video
  • User guide and use cases
  • References to TNFD metrics 
  • References to NPI Draft beta v1.0
  • Data sources
  • Search and filter function

Learn more