Global Ocean AccountsAn indicative starting point

Country conversation guide

Demonstrate an ocean account built on real ecosystem extent retrieved directly from the Spatial Data Framework API.

Open the dashboard

Global Ocean Accounts Dashboard: user guide

Use the Global Ocean Accounts Dashboard to demonstrate an ocean ecosystem account built on real ecosystem extent data. Seagrass, mangrove and geomorphic reef observations are drawn directly from live Spatial Data Framework (SDF) API product runs—not from a mock or copied dataset. The dashboard turns those observations into an indicative account that partners can inspect, question and extend with local inputs. It is a credible starting point for discussion and account development, but not an official national account without national validation and review.

Why use it with partners?

  • Demonstrate an account grounded in real observations. The measured extent foundation comes directly from the SDF API, with product, observation-period and provenance information attached. Users can see how those data populate a recognisable account rather than beginning with an abstract template.
  • Start with an example, not a blank page. Many jurisdictions want to see an account before deciding how to compile one. The dashboard carries the observed extent through condition, ecosystem services and optional monetary values, with each additional assumption kept visible.
  • Turn data gaps into a practical work plan. Missing national inputs remain visibly marked as required; they are not silently replaced with zero. The downloadable input CSV can be used as a data-gap register during or after a workshop.
  • Make assumptions discussable. Measured values, Tier 1 starting defaults, user-supplied inputs and derived results are labelled separately. Inspectable formulas and sources show exactly how a change moves through the account.
  • Produce a real account artifact when useful. A working account can be shared, saved as an immutable link and downloaded as a printable PDF with its methods, inputs, data provenance and limitations.
  • Explore a common representation for a global repository. The tool provides a standard structure for account inputs and outputs without prescribing the base datasets, technical capability or publishing platform. A compiler can use it to generate the underlying account, then present or deploy that account elsewhere.

Try the generic demonstration prefill

After selecting an accounting area, choose Prefill a generic account near the top of the account. This switches on every ecosystem and optional calculation and supplies generic mid-range or method-default values for the editable inputs, allowing you to follow a complete calculation chain wherever the selected area has live extent data.

The prefill is a teaching aid, not evidence for the selected area and not a real ocean account. Its inputs are marked PREFILL VALUE, and the live summary shows Prefill values used. Editing a prefilled input changes its label to YOUR VALUE. Use Reapply generic prefill to restore the whole demonstration bundle or Clear remaining prefill values to remove values that have not been edited. Shared links, saved accounts and downloads include the resolved values normally, so review and replace them with appropriate local evidence before using any output beyond demonstration.

A 10-minute walkthrough

  1. Choose a marine accounting area. Open the dashboard, search for a country, territory, joint regime or claim area, and select the appropriate geometry. Fiji, Indonesia, Vanuatu and Australia are useful starting examples.
  2. Check the jurisdiction and live data context. Review the boundary, ecosystem coverage and observation period for each SDF product. These extent figures come directly from the API. “Not mapped” is different from a measured zero, and the ecosystems do not necessarily share the same dates.
  3. Follow the account chain. Move through Frame → Extent → Translation → Condition → Physical flows. The coral translation is deliberately explicit: geomorphic reef extent is not the same as live coral area. Select an underlined value to inspect its source, formula and inputs.
  4. Find the local data gaps. Blue fields are starting defaults, purple fields are demonstration-prefill values, amber fields require an input, and green fields contain a user-supplied value. Use the issue summaries and “Go to input” links to locate anything blocking a result. Missing information is a useful outcome: record the dataset, institution or expert needed to fill it.
  5. Test one local input. Replace a default or blank field with a plausible country value and watch the downstream condition, service flow and summary change. Ask whether the value, reference level, unit and source are appropriate locally.
  6. Explore a scenario. In Scenarios and sensitivity, try climate stress, protection/restoration, coastal development, carbon finance or conservative accounting. Compare it with the baseline and review which assumptions drive the result.
  7. Capture the discussion. In Share this working account:
  • use Copy working link for a small set of edits; it becomes unavailable if the URL would be too long, in which case use Save immutable account;
  • use Save immutable account for a durable, citable snapshot;
  • use Download account PDF for a printable account and provenance appendix; or
  • use Download input CSV to take all inputs and gaps offline, then upload the completed CSV later.

Suggested discussion prompts

  • Does the selected boundary and measured extent look plausible to country experts?
  • Which ecosystem condition observations already exist, at what scale and for which years?
  • Which ecosystem services matter for current policy decisions?
  • Which missing inputs are priorities, and who could provide or steward them?
  • Which Tier 1 defaults are acceptable for demonstration only, and which must be replaced before formal use?
  • What should the first national output be: an extent account, a data-gap plan, a scenario, or a fuller physical account?

How to interpret the result

This is not a demonstration built on fictional data: ecosystem extent is the real, measured global foundation retrieved from the SDF API. The dashboard then makes a clear distinction between those observations and the condition, service and valuation inputs that use cited defaults or locally supplied values. Different ecosystems can have different observation periods, coral reef extent requires translation before it represents live coral, and monetary accounting is optional and remains incomplete until compatible national price and conversion evidence is available. Do not present an output as official statistics without national validation, governance and statistical review.