Towards a global map of natural capital: key ecosystem assets

This report presents a pilot study mapping the global distribution of key ecosystem assets as components of natural capital. It outlines the relationship between natural capital, ecosystem assets, and ecosystem services, and reviews approaches to physical and monetary assessment and spatial mapping. The study combines global datasets covering fresh water resources, terrestrial carbon, soil quality, terrestrial and marine biodiversity, and marine fish stocks. These datasets are normalised and combined into composite maps for terrestrial and marine ecosystems, while limitations in data coverage, resolution, and asset representation are examined.