In Science, paper from Maestre et al and a perspective from Midgley on how biodiversity of perennial plants affects ecosystem function in drylands - of importance in understanding resilience and the impacts of human activity in the face of desertification and other degradation.
Launched under the UK Natural Capital Initiative, the Ecosystems Knowledge Network is a mechanism for sharing knowledge on the ecosystems approach.
IPBES, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, has produced the report of its first plenary: emphasis on governance and organisation.
The US President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) produced the report Sustaining Environmental Capital: Protecting Society and the Economy in July. Strong emphasis on ecosystem services, valuation and assessments, including the international dimension - looks also at US involvement in IPBES
In progress in the week beginning 3 October, the first plenary meeting of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Papers, documents and updates on the website, but most of the discussion is about governance, organisation and so forth. IUCN position paper on IPBES also worth reading.
The first plenary meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is planned for 3-7 October in Nairobi. Papers are going up on the website: most relate to governance and organisation, but there are some papers relating to initial thinking on capacity building and assessment in work plans. The work plan itself seems likely to be discussed at the following plenary in 2012.
The UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a report Economic Valuation of the Benefits of Ecosystem Services delivered by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. Complex but interesting, ties in to the National Ecosystem Assessment.
Published today, the long-awaited Biodiversity 2020: a strategy for England's wildlife and ecosystem services. This complements the earlier publication in 2011 of the UK government's policy white paper on the natural environment Nature's Choice and the UK National Ecosystem Assessment.
One of elements of discussion within the IPBES development process is asssessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services - there was a recent informal workshop in Japan that will input to the October plenary of IPBES. In particular, there is a difficulty in finding appropriate scaling, methodology and reasonable data that means assessment processes can have scientific and policy credibility from local to global scales. Some intitiatives of interest: /...more
Nested Networks at the Helmholtz Centre at UFZ - research directly in the context of the IPBES process
The 2009 Assessment of Assessments - looking at marine assessments and needs for science and policy relevance within the UN
A New European Environment Assessment of Assessments - a draft is available and is to be discussed in September 2011 by ministers - undertaken by EEA, but the scope is Europe-wide, not only EU.
Article in Nature on the launch of NEON in the USA - The National Ecological Observatory Network, funded by NSF. Only just starting, but worth looking at the site and their science strategy. /....More
Number of Grand Challenges identified:
