Dear Colleagues,
Over 70 representatives from WAVES country teams, donor agencies, and other natural capital accounting (NCA) partner institutions gathered in the Rwandan capital of Kigali in early June for the WAVES
7th Annual Partnership Meeting.
The meeting was the culmination of another year of intensive work by the partnership with its eight core countries - joined earlier this year by a ninth country, Zambia - to institutionalize the production and use of accounts in responding to policy needs and challenges.
Participants reported on progress made in linking NCA to policy, work on experimental ecosystem accounts, and road maps and exit strategies developed by the original WAVES countries. You can read more about these developments in our WAVES feature story, as well as our 2017 Annual Report. The partnership meeting also received good coverage in the local media, and merited a feature story on the World Bank's website.
Following a successful transition to its second phase, known as WAVES+, the partnership aims to continue supporting countries in applying NCA toward their sustainable development objectives.
Discussions are still ongoing on how WAVES should move forward, and we look forward to sharing more information in the near future.
At the end of June, the WAVES team said goodbye and good luck to Program Manager Stig Johansson, who has led the partnership since 2015. Stig will be sorely missed, yet he will continue to engage in meaningful sustainable development work as Regional Director for Parks and Wildlife in his homeland of Finland. Senior Environmental Economist and long-time WAVES member Sofia Ahlroth is temporarily taking over the WAVES management role.
Have a wonderful summer and we will come back to you with the next edition of the newsletter in September.
Thanks, the WAVES team
