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An aerial view of Lime Lake WA 6315, Australia for A new framework for ecosystem condition accounts in Australia

A new framework for ecosystem condition accounts in Australia

14 May 2025
A white bird flies over a wetland area.

Increasing investments in nature

4 June 2025

21 May 2025

A nature-positive future for the Great Ocean Road

An aerial view of the Twelve Apostles for a nature-positive future for the Great Ocean Road

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The link between nature and the economy couldn’t be clearer than in a place like the Great Ocean Road.

Every year, millions of people flock into south-west Victoria, with over 2 million people visiting the main attraction: the magnificent Twelve Apostles.

The Great Ocean Road generates $1.9 billion tourism dollars across the region each year, along with nearly 10,000 local jobs.

All this depends on the health of the coastline. Caring for nature is a vital part of the region’s success.

As part of their sustainable management approach, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA) is embracing natural capital accounting to inform management and investment decisions for the region.

In late 2024, the Victorian Government Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, (DEECA) published a set of environmental economic accounts (EEA) for the region.

The accounts show that the region delivers a range of ecosystem services that provide significant value to society, including recreation and tourism, coastal protection and climate regulation.

The accounts also show that the ecosystems within the region are important for threatened flora and fauna populations. For example, the figure below shows the location of critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable fauna populations throughout the region.

A screenshot of threatened fauna species in the GORCAPA region for a nature-positive future for the Great Ocean Road

The accounts provide a useful set of information for high-level investment and environmental management decision-making. A DEECA spokesperson told the Surf Coast Times that:

‘The coast and parks along the Great Ocean Road are so important to Victoria that is critical that we do as much as we can to protect them for future generations to enjoy.

Land management, planning and investment decisions for the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks will be informed by the latest research, including this EEA to ensure a consistent and holistic approach.’

Next steps for the region

In 2024 and 2025, IDEEA Group worked with GORCAPA on their Natural Capital Roadmap. This is a five-year plan for the region’s future, outlining GORCAPA’s purpose and role in managing natural capital. From there, the Roadmap details the actions GORCAPA can take to embed a natural capital approach into their operations.

The Roadmap supports a sustainable future for the region by:

  • helping the organisation tell the story of the benefits the environment provides to the wider community and the impacts of their work
  • embedding natural capital in planning, decision-making and investment prioritisation
  • operationalising the EEA and building internal capacity around natural capital accounting.

Find out more

Ziggy GelmanOur Senior Economist, Ziggy Gelman was a key member of the team that developed the EEA at DEECA. Ziggy is now working at IDEEA Group and supported GORCAPA through their Roadmap process. Ziggy is available to discuss your natural capital journey, no matter where you’re starting from. Perhaps you’re at the very beginning and are just learning about natural capital accounting, or perhaps you’re further down the track.

Reach out to us at any time to discuss your natural capital journey.

Read more about GORCAPA’s approach here.

Find out more about the Natural Capital Roadmap process here.

A nature-positive future for the Great Ocean Road

Lyndall Thomas

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Director

Mark Eigenraam

Mark has worked in natural capital accounting for over 20 years. He's helped develop environmental markets. And he's worked in academic institutions and government agencies at all levels.
Mark produced Australia’s first set of experimental ecosystem accounts. He also worked at the United Nations in New York on the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) – the international standard.
Mark advises organisations around the world in the application of natural capital accounting. He develops processes and systems that highlight nature-based risks and opportunities.
Mark has a Master of Commerce, Economics, from the University of Melbourne.
Mark Eigenraam speaking to a seated audience in front of a projector screen
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DIRECTOR

Carl Obst

Carl is a global leader in natural capital accounting. He helps organisations around the world measure the benefits of nature.
Carl was the lead author of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA) – the international standard.
Carl has a background in national accounts, including five years as head of the Australian National Accounts with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. He uses natural capital accounting to help organisations make effective and sustainable decisions.
Carl has a Bachelor of Economics, Econometrics, from the University of New England (AU).

Carl Obst presenting at the Putting Nature on the Balance Sheet Bootcamp with The Aotearoa Circle.

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Senior Economist

Daniel Whitaker

Dan is an experienced practitioner in economics, science, risk management and finance.
His expertise includes natural capital accounting, non-market valuation, nature- and climate-related risk analysis, sustainable finance, environmental-economic modelling and carbon and energy economics and accounting.
Earlier in his career, Dan worked as a sustainability and climate change consultant in PwC’s Risk Consulting team. He then held a position at the National Australia Bank, where he advised on financial and non-financial risk management. This included considerable work on climate risk scenario analysis.
In his role with IDEEA, Dan supports public and private sector organisations on the use of natural capital data in investment decision-making, risk management and economic analysis.
Dan holds a Master of Applied Economics and Econometrics from Monash University.
Daniel Whitaker, ideea group team member, smiling in glasses and a navy shirt
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Senior Economic Analyst

Lachlan Dawson

Lachlan is an adaptable, curious and details focused economist with a passion for sustainably managing Australia’s natural capital. His experience encompasses environmental economic accounts, carbon and biodiversity markets and economic modelling.
Prior to joining IDEEA Group, Lachlan worked as a Nature-Climate Solutions Manager with BirdLife Australia and as a Consultant in Environmental Economics with Marsden Jacob Associates.

Lachlan Dawson (R) and Daniel Vardon (L) showcasing DATA4NATURE at the 2026 ALCA Conference in Nipaluna / Hobart.

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Economist

Ziggy Gelman

Ziggy is an experienced economist who is passionate about identifying the contribution that ecosystems have to our economy and society. In his role with IDEEA Group, Ziggy provides technical analysis of economic and environmental data and supports organisations to understand and integrate a natural capital approach into their operations.
Ziggy has experience in compiling accounts in Victoria, having worked on ecosystem accounts for urban Melbourne, the Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks, Victoria’s forests and Victoria’s marine and coastal region.
Prior to working at IDEEA Group, Ziggy worked with the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action. Ziggy has a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics and Finance) from the University of Melbourne.
Ziggy Gelman, ideea group team member, smiling with a beard and a green shirt
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Research Analyst

Maria Angelopoulos

Maria ensures that our client work is accurate, timely and concise. Her broad-reaching research work underpins our natural capital approaches, especially in relation to mapping and collating existing policies and data, and identifying themes.
Maria previously worked as a Research Assistant for Melbourne University’s School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences where she supported the review of the Montreal Process’ Criteria and Indicator framework on sustainable forest management in Victoria.
Maria holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Environment (Master level program) from the University of Melbourne.
Maria Angelopoulos, ideea group team member, smiling in a pink floral blouse
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Implementation Support

Michelle Butler

Michelle is dedicated to understanding our clients’ needs and helping them to harness their data to achieve meaningful impact stories and actionable insights.
Her career is marked by a deep commitment to the Victorian landscape and over 30 years in public service, agriculture and the environment sector. Michelle has worked regionally in diverse roles in field science, advised landholders in revegetation and land management, trained teachers, property owners and Landcare facilitators in natural resource management, coordinated statewide grant, crowd-funded and market-based programs, and managed expert teams advising government on biodiversity issues.
Michelle has applied science, teaching and workplace training experience and qualifications.
Michelle Butler, ideea group team member, smiling in glasses
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Head of Advisory and Solutions

Muheed Jamaldeen

Muheed is an economist who helps governments and companies value nature, natural hazards and climate risk, and use those values to make investment decisions. He leads IDEEA’s advisory practice, covering cost-benefit analysis, business cases, economic modelling and forecasting, ecosystem service valuation, input-output modelling and nature-related disclosure.
Muheed is focused on the interection between climate and nature, and has undertaken studies for both public and private sector clients applying advanced econometric modelling and spatial analytics to tackle some of Australia’s trickiest policy and strategy questions.
Prior to IDEEA, Muheed was a Director at Deloitte Access Economics, where he led the NSW land-use and infrastructure economics practice. Before that he was an Assistant Director at the Federal Treasury, and former Senior Economist at Oxfam. He holds a Master of Economics and a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from Macquarie University.

IDEEA Group’s modelling and analysis presented by Muheed Jamaldeenat the Nature Economics symposium, hosted by the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Climate Futures.

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GIS Specialist

Daniel Vardon

Daniel manages IDEEA Group’s spatial data infrastructure, ensuring all geospatial datasets are standardised, catalogued and easily accessible across projects.
Daniel develops and maintains workflows that translate raw spatial data into accounts-ready formats for natural capital and environmental reporting. He is passionate about supporting natural capital accounting with high-quality spatial information and analysis.
Daniel has a Bachelor of Environmental Science from the Australian National University and is currently studying for a Master of Geospatial Science at RMIT.
Daniel Vardon, ideea group team member, smiling in a blue striped shirt