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.
The Welsh government has published an Action Plan for Pollinators and draft implementation plan, with actions focused on: policy, governance and sound evidence base; provision of diverse and flower-rich habitats; healthy pollinator populations; and better public awareness. A pollinator task force is planned.
Biodiversity 2020 is the strategy for biodiversity in England, published in 2011. A simple guide and progress update has just been released, summarizing ...more/
a UK government statistical release and the 2012 Biodiversity Indicators Assessment. Also available to support the latter are a summary and technical papers on air pollution; expenditure; butterflies; fish size; and priority habitats.
The second plenary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES-2) is to be held in December 2013 in Antalya. Preparation documents are available for consultation, including a workplan.
The UK government's Natural Capital Committee has produced the State of Natural Capital Report 2013 - taking an economic view of natural resources and ecosystem services. The Committee states:
"The evidence that exists indicates we are failing to conserve our natural capital assets and invest in them adequately. In many cases we are increasingly demanding more from them while at the same time eroding their capacity to deliver. The risk is that rather than underpinning future growth and prosperity, degraded natural capital assets will act as a break [sic] on progress and development. Furthermore, by failing to invest adequately in maintenance and enhancement, we risk missing opportunities that better management and stewardship of natural capital can offer."
And goes on to make recommendations on better measurement of natural capital; incorporation into national accounting; improved policy tools for decision-making and other topics. It also asserts that effective valuation and conservation of assets is good for economic growth
The EU has just banned the use of neonicotinoids. A feature summary in Nature of research and policy developments relating to the impacts of neonicotinoid insecticides on bees and other pollinators gives a good overview. The European Environment Agency issued the second report on the precautionary principle and impacts from various substances - Late Lessons from Early Warnings: Science, Precaution, Innovation. This follows the earlier review of the history of the precautionary principle Late Lessons from Early Warnings: the Precautionary Principle 1896-2000, produced in 2001.
The UK House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee in April 2013 published the report of its inquiry on Pollinators and Pesticides, with a particular focus on neonicotinoids, which have been causing concern because of reported impacts on both honeybees and wild pollinators. Selected recommendations to the UK government are:
