Transcript The UK National Ecosystem Assessment. Process and outputs.

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Results from the UK
The National Ecosystem Assessment
and its utilisation
Dr. Robert Bradburne
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
May 2013
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Summary
• Why did we do an Assessment?
• What results did it give us?
• How was it reported?
• How was it incorporated into policy?
• Lessons learned and next steps.
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Why did we do a National Ecosystem
Assessment?
The UK NEA was the first analysis
of the UK’s natural environment in
terms of the benefits that it provides
to people.
The objectives of the UK NEA were to:
1. Produce an independent and peer-reviewed National Ecosystem
Assessment for the whole of the UK.
2. Raise awareness of the importance of the natural environment to
human well-being and economic prosperity.
3. Ensure full stakeholder participation and encourage different
stakeholders and communities to interact and, in particular, to foster
better inter-disciplinary cooperation between natural and social
scientists, as well as economists.
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Completing the circle – joining environmental
policy with social and economic policy
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Harnessing
the power of
the UK’s data
and expertise
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Spatially specific
evidence
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Valuing
Ecosystem
Services
Valuation
of ecosystem
services 1
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Valuing ecosystem services:
non-monetary valuation
The value of ecosystems to human health was investigated:
1. Direct health benefits – valuable physical and mental health
improvements through interaction with nature;
2. Indirect positive effect, due to activity and increased social
engagement facilitated by natural settings;
3. Reduction of negative impacts on health, such as air and
noise pollution or disease vectors; and
4. Negative health impacts of ecosystems e.g., through
physical threats, disease or contaminants (e.g., pollen).
The “shared value” of the contributions ecosystem services make to
human well-being was also investigated:
• looked at value not just to the individual but to groups in the
context of social rights and wrongs.
• required consideration of ethics and issues of altruism and
existence value.
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Response options – objective evidence
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Constructed in
discussion with
policy makers
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Not prescriptive,
but did give an
assessment of more
integrated management
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Wide ranging but not
comprehensive
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Provides evidence for what sorts of intervention work for different ecosystem
services
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Not just about what Government can do – assesses responses across society.
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UKNEA synthesis – not just a summary
Figures
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Changing national policy:
NATURAL ENVIRONMENT WHITE PAPER
The Natural Choice:
securing the value of nature
June 2011
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White Paper builds on the findings of the UKNEA
• Nature is a complex, interconnected system. A healthy, properly functioning
natural environment is the foundation of sustained economic growth, prospering
communities and personal wellbeing.
• This is why we must properly value the economic and social benefits of a healthy
natural environment – as well as nature’s intrinsic value.
• This requires us all to put the value of nature at the heart of our
decision-making by:
• Facilitating action to protect and improve nature;
• Creating a green economy, in which economic growth and the health of
our natural resources sustain each other;
• Strengthening the connections between people and nature to benefit
both.
• Showing leadership in the European Union and internationally, to
protect and enhance natural assets globally.
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Ongoing initiatives where the NEA will continue
to have an Impact
Mapping
ecosystem
services
across
Europe
Green Book
guidance ,
planning
policy and
accounting
for natural
capital
Natural Capital
Committee:
Advising on the
state of
England’s
Natural Capital
Expanding
markets for
ecosystem
services
Ecosystem Markets
Task Force:
Exploring new
markets for
ecosystem services
Local Nature
Partnerships:
Bringing
together the
ecological and
economic
objectives of
an area
Better
data and
more
integrated
reporting.
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Building on the UKNEA
NEA Follow On
Macroeconomics
WP1: Natural Capital Asset Check
WP2: Macroeconomic Implications
Economic Valuation
WP3: Improved Modelling
& Valuation
Social Values
WP4: Valuing Cultural Services
WP5: Assessing Shared Values
Scenarios
WP6: Developing Scenarios
WP7: Policy Testing
Application
WP8: Cultural Drivers/Barriers
WP9: Decision Support Tools
•
•
•
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Valuing Nature Network
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Sustainability
Mapping & Assessment of Ecosystem Services
Intergovernmental platform on Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Services
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Lessons from running the Assessment
1. The UKNEA was seen as directly influential to policy. This encouraged
the participation of a wide range of academics.
2. Secretariat aimed to be inclusive, and several lead authors actively
sought a wide academic input to chapters.
3. Scientists with previous experience of Assessments were helpful.
4. Considerable effort put in to accessing a wide variety of data sets, but
most of these given for free in the end.
5. Having an independent, non-academic, but technically competent
secretariat assisted management, but also having strong, energetic CoChairs was also very important.
6. Communication between governance groups was important, especially
in later stages of the Assessment to make sure messages were shared,
although there was still a need for individual meetings.
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Thank
you