Defra has produced Biodiversity 2020: a strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services Indicators in December 2014, an assessment of trends of improvement and deterioration for key indicators. In summary, there are 48 individual measures that make up 24 indicators. A mixed picture of short and long term improvement and deterioration.
UNEP-WCMC produced in July 2014 a report Towards a Global Map of Natural Capital. It gives an overview of the global perspective and maps for:
together with a composite map that integrates these elements. Looking forward, the ambition is to increase the number of measures of natural capital, and to attempt to analyse changes over time.
Reference:
Dickson, B., Blaney, R. Miles, L., Regan, E., van Soesbergen, A.,Väänänen, E., Blyth, S., Harfoot, M. Martin, C.S., McOwen, C., Newbold, T., van Bochove, J. (2014). Towards a global map of natural capital: key ecosystem assets. UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.
The UK National Ecosystem Assessment was published in 2011 and now a Follow-on report has been produced. The main emphasis is on tools to aid decision makers in developing policy tools and strategy: natural capital; an updated land use change model that included biodiversity; valuation of cultural ecosystem services; forward scenarios; embedding knowledge for policy; and adaptive management principles.
Future Earth is a 10-year initiative on earth system research involving various ICSU programmes (Diversitas, IGBP, WCRP, ESSP and IHDP) and partners and the funding agencies represented in the Belmont Forum. ICSU initially developed a strategic framework for earth system research in the context of the 2010 ICSU Grand Challenges for research and the Belmont Challenge. Future Earth has emerged from this and was launched at Rio +20.
The Future Earth Initial Design was published in late 2013, providing an overview; research framework; organisational design; initial strategic views of communication, engagement, education, capacity building and funding; and a roadmap to implementation. Annexes give more detailed analysis and rationales for the different elements.
The initial research themes are:
The report of the second plenary meeting of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services has been published, summarizing discussion and decisions on governance, funding organization, assessment methodologies, conceptual model, capacity building and priorities in the initial workplan. /...
.../Fast track assessments on pollination and pollinators associated with food production and scenario analysis and modelling of biodiversity and ecosystem services were initiated. Thematic assessments on land degradation and restoration; invasive alien species; and sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity and strengthening capacities and tools were agreed for scoping.
July 2013 paper in Science from Bateman et al. Bringing Ecosystem Services into Economic Decision-Making: Land Use in the UK DOI: 10.1126/science.1234379. Indicates that if land use decisions focus only on agriculture that overall ecosystem service value fall, but if all potential services are considered in planning, wild species diversity is conserved.
Current UK Parliament Commons Science and Technology Committee inquiry on public understanding of climate change and a Royal Society study on resilience and climate change.
Just because a question has been asked on mass extinction. Worth looking at Barnosky, A. D., et al. (2011). "Has the Earth/'s sixth mass extinction already arrived?" Nature 471(7336): 51-57. And Barnosky, A. D., et al. (2012). "Approaching a state shift in Earth/'s biosphere." Nature 486(7401): 52-58.
Excellent review of The Decline of England's Bees covering of policy, practice and ecosystem services - from the University of Reading for Friends of the Earth.
The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a short review of policy and evidence on Bees and other pollinators. This is a first step in developing a national pollinator strategy for England in 2014 - expert workshops are planned for September and October 2013.
