Capitalizing the blue world: What can we learn from an Eastern Mediterranean case study?

Abstract Emergy analysis is an environmental accounting method used to comprehensively measure the sustainability of human and natural systems. This procedure is able to evaluate system’s relationship with its surroundings by considering all contributions from similar units. According to these objectives, Emergy analysis shape as a procedure able to provide integrated information about natural and human-driven resources supporting ecological functions and economic activities. In particular, Environmental Accounting Emergy-based provides a measure of Natural Capital (biophysical value of stocked biomass) in terms of natural resources consumption required to support generation of goods and fruition of services. The purpose of this work is to illustrate the procedural and methodological approaches, with field-testing of materials and methods, necessary to carry out an environmental accounting analysis in a Marine Protected Area (MPA). The investigation has been performed in a Mediterranean coastal MPA (“Isole Ciclopi”, SE Sicily, Italy) in order to provide a scenery of performance, impact and environmental sustainability of the activities carried on the MPA in relation to the renewable natural resources present. We show the extent to which a cost-benefit approach can assess the productivity of investing in environmental management and conservation. This integrated methodology may in fact help scientists, policy-makers and local managers to implement ecosystem administration according to the principles of sustainable development.