EASAC Launch Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) yesterday launched a report on 'Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity in Europe'. The EASAC working group behind the report was led by Professor Alastair Fitter, University of York, a past-President of the BES.

The report provides a review of the state of ecosystem services in Europe, and examines what is known regarding the contribution which biodiversity makes to maintaining ecosystem services.

As urbanisation and intensification of agriculture compromise the environment and lead to declines in biodiversity, so too will the ability of ecosystems to provide the essential services on which we depend be threatened. As an example, soil biodiversity provides a key role in nutrient cycling, essential to maintain high-levels of productivity in agriculture. As fertilisers are likely to become more costly in future, whilst food prices are set to increase, maintaining the integrity of soil ecosystems in Europe will be vital to deliver the produce needed by a growing population, increasingly unable to afford the high cost of imported food.

One of the key messages of the report is that although European ecosystems can deliver a range of services, managing land to primarily deliver one service will reduce its capacity to deliver others. EASAC recommends that European governments introduce a new Directive, encouraging the active management of land for a range of ecosystem services; putting in place legislation to ensure that management is systematic and to standards uniform across Europe.

A copy of the report can be accessed here: http://www.easac.org/document.asp?id=90&pageno=1&detail=1&parent=31.

Registration Now Open for 'Natural Capital Initiative' Symposium

Registration has today opened for the inaugural symposium of the 'Natural Capital Initiative' (NCI).

The NCI is a new partnership; between the Institute of Biology, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, British Ecological Society and Science Council, which aims to bring together scientists, policy-makers and other interested groups to discuss how to better value and appreciate the planet's natural resources.

The three-day symposium will take place at Savoy Place, London, from 30 April - 1 May. The first day will see a number of high profile speakers discuss their views on delivery of an 'ecosystem approach', whilst the second and third day take the form of workshops focusing on land use, planning and the marine environment. The diversity of the expected audience is reflected in the diversity of our confirmed speakers, who include: Professor John Beddington (Government Chief Scientific Advisor), Lord May of Oxford, Professor Gretchen Daily (Stanford University), Baroness Barbara Young (Care Quality Commission) and Lucy Neville-Rolfe (Director of Corporate Affairs, Tesco).

Register before 1 February to benefit from a discount to the registration fee. Members of the BES are also eligible for a discount.

Natural Capital Initiative: Valuing our life support systems 30 April - 1 May 2009

Natural Capital Initiative: Linking Environment and Policy

The BES is a major partner and sponsor in a new project, the 'Natural Capital Initiative', which has launched its website today.

The BES, the Institute of Biology, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Science Council are co-operating as a partnership (the NCI) to deliver a three-day symposium in April 2009, aiming to bring together ecologists, scientists from other disciplines, policy-makers and others (including architects, land managers, planners, representatives from business and from across Government departments) to discuss gaps in research and implementation of the ecosystem approach - and how to solve them.

The three-day event, from 29 April - 1 May 2009, consists of a high-profile first day with keynote speeches and discussion, followed by two days of case -studies. Groups will get together to discuss the ecosystem approach in the context of rural land-use, urban planning and the marine environment.

Confirmed speakers for day one include: the Government Chief Scientist, Sir John Beddington; Professor Gretchen Daily, Stanford University; Lord May of Oxford, Committee on Climate Change; Baroness Young, Care Quality Commission and Graham Wynne, CEO RSPB. We will also be joined by figures to discuss the importance of an ecosystem approach to business: Lucy Neville-Rolfe, Director of Corporate and Legal Affairs at Tesco and Richard Brown, CEO Eurostar, are amongst our high-profile speakers.

You can find more information about the symposium at www.naturalcapitalinitiative.org.uk. Registration will open in January.

Climate Change Committee Set Plans to De-Carbonise the Economy

The future of coal power is now in the hands of the climate change committee, as they are due to set out plans to 'de-carbonise' the economy. The committee plans to publish the findings of their report later today.

Environmentalists are keen that the committee sets stringent emission targets from 2020, ensuring that any new coal-fired power stations are fitted with carbon capture and storage technology.

It is expected the climate change committee will recommend interim targets up to 2022, considering the EU aims to reduce emissions by up to 30% by up to 2050.

The executive secretary of the UN climate secretariat, Yvo de Boer said that the international talks on a climate change treaty in Poznan, Poland, could set plans on how rich countries can help the developing world cope with the impact of climate change. It is hoped the treaty will come into effect by 2012.

De Boer said: "I think it is important that countries in Copenhagen reach a political agreement that is a response to what scientists tell us need to be done."

Currently rainforest lost is reaching unprecedented levels. The talks may offer new direction to how polluting countries can pay tropical countries to conserve their forests, as a means of reducing CO2 emissions, since forest clearance is a huge contributor to climate change.

BES Collaboration Praised in the House of Lords

The role of the BES in bringing together policy makers, ecologists and others to discuss topical issues in environmental policy has been highlighted in a response to a parliamentary question in the House of Lords. Lord Dykes (Spokesperson in the Lords - Europe), asked the Government to outline the progress made by the UK Biodiversity Advisory Group (UK BRAG) in investigating empirical ecosystems. In response, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Minister of State for Sustainable Development, Climate Change Adaptation and Air Quality at Defra, referenced the joint UK BRAG - BES workshop, held at this year's BES annual meeting, which examined ecosystem services and the ecosystem approach:

" In September 2008, UK BRAG held a joint workshop with the British Ecological Society to look specifically at ecosystem services and the ecosystem approach. The workshop brought environmental researchers together with sociologists and geographers to look at valuing biodiversity in a more holistic and practical way. The proceedings of this workshop will shortly be available on the UK BRAG website."

The BES will also be making the proceedings available online and will announce this on the Blog.

The BES is also involved in further high profile events in 2009, exploring the ecosystem approach, with a three-day stakeholder symposium from 29 April - 1 May. The BES has joined a partnership of organisations; the IOB, CEH and the Science Council, to form the 'Natural Capital Initiative'. The Initiative's website and further information about the symposium will shortly be available: again, this will be highlighted on the Blog.

Read the full transcript of today's discussion in the Lords on 'They Work for You'

Hilary Benn Launches Countryside Survey: Initial Results

Yesterday saw the launch of the initial results of the 2007 Countryside Survey, with a series of presentations and workshops in London. Opening the event, Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, praised the dedication of the ecologists and others behind the work and commented on the 'fundamental' importance of the report to Government. He also used the occasion as an opportunity to launch a new fund of over £1 million to improve the recording of wildlife in England. This money will be available from 2009 and will be channelled through the biological recording centres.

The results released yesterday signal just the start of the reporting period of the Survey, with further reports to be released in 2009 (reports for Wales, Scotland and England; raw data from the 500 study sites examined in the survey; land cover map; detailed analysis of soils and freshwater). 2010 will see the publication of an integrated assessment, bringing all these parameters together and examining the ecological impacts of different pressures on ecosystem services.

Some headline results from the Survey, in addition to those highlighted in yesterday's Blog post, include:

- Species richness in all random plots examined by the survey has declined since 1978.
- There has been a decline too in the species richness of areas adjacent to linear features, such as hedges, streams and roads, which provide refuges for species which cannot survive in intensively managed land.
- Areas targeted by the survey for their particular botanical interest have seen a worrying decline in species over the same period.
- There has been a 6% decrease in the total length of managed hedgerows since 1998. There has been a corresponding increase in the length of lines of trees and relict hedges, indicating a lack of hedge management.
- The number of ponds in Great Britain increased by 11% between 1998 and 2007, but over 80% of ponds in England and Wales were found to be in poor condition. Questions should be asked about the quality of the habitats provided by the new ponds.

Visit the website of the Countryside Survey at http://www.countrysidesurvey.org.uk/

Pavan Sukhdev Gives Annual Darwin Initiative Lecture

Pavan Sukhdev, leader of the TEEB review (The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity), yesterday delivered the 9th annual Darwin Initiative Lecture in London.

The central theme of Mr Sukhdev's presentation was the need for a 'new economics' to take into account measures of human progress traditionally excluded from nations' GDP figures. He gave the example of India, with newspaper headlines currently proclaiming 9% GDP growth, despite the global economic downturn. Mr Sukhdev challenged this figure: did this equate to a 9% increase in the quality of healthcare delivered for the population, for example? A quote from a leading economist, taken in 1968, stressed that "GDP is unfit for purpose"; Mr Sukhdev argued that nothing had changed in this respect.

The example of Yasuni National Park, Ecuador, ilustrated the possibilities offered by removing 'public goods' from the public domain and so avoiding the so-called 'Tragedy of the Commons'. Ecuador has pledged not to exploit the 20% of its proven oil field found within the national park, calculating a £1.6 billion opportunity cost for not doing so, and pricing the carbon it will have 'locked in' the oil field at £1.7 billion, based on the market rate for carbon. Ecuador is currently seeking investors under this REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) initiative. The investment will allow the country to spend on renewable technologies, shifting away from oil dependence, and be channelled into communities for an improvement in the population's quality of life.

Breakout groups followed the lecture, considering the next stages of the TEEB review. It was clear from discussion that, in order to mainstream valuation of ecosystem services and 'natural capital' into decision making, the results of the review must be considered not just by countries' environment ministries but by their treasuries, and by the World Bank. Over the next few months the TEEB team will be seeking input into their review, in the form of evidence, and further suggestions for influencing policy-makers.

For more information see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/

Patagonian Fungus Diesel: An Alternative Biofuel?

Scientists have recently discovered that a tree fungus Gliocladium roseum, produces compounds of long-chain hydrocarbons very similar in structure to commercial diesel.

The lead scientist of the research, Gary Strobel, from Montana State University said: "This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances... ...we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons."

The work is due to be published in the journal Microbiology next month, where the compounds have been described as 'mycodiesels.' The research also documents the ability of the fungus to break down cellulose - the structure that makes up the plant cell wall with lignin - to create the mycodiesel. Previously, cellulose has been converted to biofuels in a two-step process requiring enzymes to create sugars from the cell wall followed by microbes to convert sugars to ethanol.

The find illustrates the very real and unthinkably diverse compounds in the depths of our remaining forests, and highlights the desperate need to conserve what we have left. The research also comes at a time when traditional taxonomy is in precipitous decline, making the case to educate more young taxonomists even stronger. There is great potential for the discovery of new medicines and fuels derived from biodiversity across many ecosystems, from forests to the marine environment.

Although excited by the news, Tariq Butt, a fungus expert based at Swansea University, urged caution:

"Concept-wise, the discovery and its potential applications are fantastic. However, more research is needed, as well as a pilot study to determine the costs and benefits. Even so, another potential supply of renewable fuel allows us to diversify our energy sources and is certainly an exciting discovery."

REDD - Tackling Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss

Climate change remains a present and future threat to biodiversity. REDD, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation, aims to curb climate change by conserving the world's remaining forests.

REDD aim to ensure that measures to tackle climate change include accounting for the carbon sinks that forests and bogs provide. After lenghty dialogue, both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol have made provisions to reduce emissions released from forest degradation and deforestation.

December 07 witnessed the unilateral agreement between the conference of the parties to strengthen agreements made at the fourteenth conference. UNEP and WCMC have now produced a paper that outlines opportunities for multiple benefits of forest protection, including increased watershed and coastal protection.

It seems likely that protection of native forests will offer greater resilience to the effects of climate change than new plantations, and this should be taken into consideration in decision-making.

WWF Report: Ecological Credit Crunch Officially Worse than Financial Credit Crunch

An international study by the WWF, ZSL and partners - the Living Planet Report - reveals that we will need 'two planets' by 2030 in order to sustain current rates of consumption. Three quarters of the world's population are consuming more than can be replaced each year.

The study examined the 'ecological footprint' of countries across the world, and the rate at which we are degrading all the necessary life support systems of the planet. Rainforests provide clear air and carbon sequestration, fresh water supplies are being spoilt and marine fisheries are being consistently over harvested.

The reports authors estimate that the financial equivalent of this degradation, dwarfs the losses of the present financial crisis - the ecological debt reaching at least £2.5 trillion every year.

Sir David King, the British government's former chief scientific adviser, added:

"We all need to agree that there's a crisis of understanding, that we're removing the planet's biodiverse resources at a rate which is as fast if not faster than the world's last great extinction."

Read the full report here: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Environment/documents/2008/10/28/LPR_2008.pdf

Ecosystem Services Lack Congruence with Conservation Priorities

New research published in PNAS indicates that although policy is successful in designating areas to protect biodiversity, these areas rarely environ ecosystem services. The lack of congruence is such that, in terms of protecting ecosystem services, these areas could be considered to have been selected completely at random.

The authors call for much more research into elucidating the mechanisms that underpin how ecosystems confer well-being to humans. Although the EU has a strong policy initiative to conserve biodiversity (Nature 2000 Network, 2008), policy to incorporate ecosystem services within this framework remains in its infancy.

Currently the way that ecosystem services are valued remains fairly crude, based on a seminal paper written years ago (Constanza et al., 1997), and yet most research in this area continues to use these crude methods, rather than adapting methods used to identify conservation effort. Creating maps that identify how ecosystem services are globally distributed would be a start, identifying what benefits they provide to local people and what threats they face is an essential next step to make.

Four ecosystem services were the focus of the research: carbon sequestration, water provision, grassland production of livestock and carbon storage. They found very limited congruence between these services and their measures of conservation effort, (which included biodiversity 'hotspots', and ecoregions - as defined by the WWF. There are many different kinds of ecosystem services in addition to those chosen by the authors, (provision of fuel, clean air, food, well being, medicinal, psychological to name but a few). However they were only able to use the aforementioned, therefore much greater interdisciplinarity work is urgently needed in order to quantify and map the bare minimum ecosystem services.

The authors recognise the limitations of their study; many ecosystem services are limited to the local level, therefore such a coarse global-scale study misses the nuances occurring at smaller spatial scales.

In order to fully assess who benefits from ecosystem services and how, work between sociologists, anthropologists, political scientists and ecologists is required. Payments for ecosystems services (PES) are a potential policy option to take the ecosystems approach forward. PES enables stakeholders at the local level to not only benefit financially from the true value of the surroundings they inhabit, but incentivizes them to conserve their surroundings. PES presents the opportunity to simultaneously protect ecosystem services and biodiversity.


Source: Naidoo, R., Balmford, A., Costanza, R., et al. (2008). Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 105: 9495-9500.

References:

Costanza R, et al. (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital.
Nature 387:253–260.

Nature 2000 Network, (2008) http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/natura2000/index_en.htm, Accessed 24 October 2008

UK Farming Dependent on Soil Health

Speaking on the Today Programme, Professor Dick Godwin spoke of the overemphasis on environmental issues in farming, rather than growing food for the people. The Royal Agricultural Society of England released a report today warning that England's soils are being overworked.

Professor Dick Godwin said: "I think the major concern of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in commissioning this report was really in 'Where do farmers get their advice from, where do they get new applied research?'." Professor Godwin called for more research into how soil will adapt to a changing climate.

The society cite a combination of intensive agricultural techniques, dry summers and shifting growing seasons as causing a decline in soil quality. Certainly intensive agriculture has been at the heart of many of the problems that farmland specialist species have faced.

However in the report, Professor Godwin stressed the aim is to provide farmers with relevant up to date information, in order to secure Britain's food supplies for the future.

A scheme similar to Professor Bill Sutherland's Conservation Evidence may be the way forward in terms of effectively disseminating information. The success of the Conservation Evidence scheme so far, with the help of the British Ecological Society, has been highlighted in a recent interview with NERC in their Planet Earth publication.

Access the NERC interview here: http://www.nerc.ac.uk/publications/planetearth/2008/autumn/aut08-conserving.pdf

Check out the Conservation Evidence website here.

No Link Found Between Pollinator Declines and Agriculture

Considerable research efforts have suggested that there is, or could be a link between insect pollinator decline and agricultural output. The body of science on the subject of pollinators and agriculture has influenced policy at the highest level; the creation of the International Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators (IPI) at a United Nations meeting in 2000.

However, new research published in Current Biology suggests that agriculture has not been affected by the decline of key insect pollinators.

Examining a period spanning over 40 years, Alexandra Klein's research time investigated agricultural productivity of crops requiring pollinators with those that do not. Contrary to popular belief, the researchers found that crop yields have gone up consistently, with growth rates of up to 1.5%, despite the falling numbers of pollinators. Focusing on tropical agricultural regions, no difference in yields were found between breeze and insect pollinated crops, (though it is not known whether these regions had experienced significant concurrent pollinator declines).

It is possible that the researchers, having grouped together all crops globally, might not be picking up on detail happening at finer spatial scales.

The results of this work are out of sync with the work of many others such as Taylor Ricketts, director of WWF's conservation science programme. Rickett's group found that coffee plantations were 20 per cent more productive when grown within 1km of forested areas. Other work has also suggested that an abundant diversity of pollinators increases crop yields.

Some scientists remain sceptical. Jaboury Ghazoul, a plant ecologist at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, believes that few crop species actually depend on pollinator species.

Klein however does not rescind the notion that pollinators are very important for agriculture. She suggests that actions by farmers at the local level, (such as hand pollination or pollinator transplantation) may mask the extent of pollinator decline. Klein anticipates that a crop productivity crash could occur any time soon - many major crop plants now are pollinator dependent, 15% up from 8% in 1961.

Do blog readers think that agricultural productivity can continue with a concurrent decline in pollinators? Is there an optimum spatial scale to conduct this kind of research? Is pollinator diversity important?


Source: Aizen M. A., Garibaldi, L. A., Cunningham, S. A. & Klein, A. M., 2008, Current Biology, doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.08.066

Urban Expansion Impedes Biodiversity Conservation

Often urban expansion occurs concomitantly with economic growth in developing countries, not to mention land use change including the conversion of forest to agricultural land. A new study in Landscape and Urban Planning suggests that expansion of Panama City and Colon, both of which are surrounded by richly biodiverse rainforests, could result in future biodiversity loss.

Increased urbanisation is anticipated in these cities after a planned expansion of the shipping canal, and it is likely that this will result in increased forest loss. This could be exacerbated by the rural population, 61 per cent of whom live below the poverty threshold, and presently have no alternative but to remove standing forest for agriculture and income purposes.

The researchers looked at potential socio-economic and biophysical correlates of biodiversity loss including population density and growth, road density and poverty levels, rainfall, forest age and land use. They found that population wealth was linked to conversion of land to urban areas, i.e. the more wealth the more conversion. The researchers also found that agriculture was expanding into mature forests.

The rainforests offer a wealth of ecosystem services including the provision of clean water, flood and landslide prevention through water capture not to mention the carbon storage and climate regulating influences. However if an ecosystem services approach is not applied to the forests appropriately, it is likely that, as affluence increases in the urban areas, the true value of the forests will be taken for granted. This could result in increased forest clearance for what is perceived as more valuable urban development projects.

The authors suggest that ecotourism and agroforestry could provide alternative less destructive economic opportunities. If alternatives are positively explored it could assist the rural population move above the poverty threshold without destroying the valuable forests which they, and we all depend upon.

Source: Rompré G, Robinson WD and Desrochers A (2008). Causes of habitat loss in a Neotropical landscape: The Panama Canal corridor. Landscape and Urban Planning. 87: 129-139.

Prince Rallies The City to Save Rainforests

The Prince of Wales has called upon hard-nosed city financiers to invest in Rainforests. Top city officials including Robert Swannell, Vice President of Citi Europe and Chris Gibson-Smith, chairman of the London Stock Exchange are among invitees to Mansion House tonight to discuss methods of investing billions in conservation schemes globally.

The carbon market is thought to be the best way of investing in forests, however presently most investment is directed towards new plantations rather than preserving standing forests.

Stanley Fink, former chief executive of Man Group, stated that if the true value of rainforests was reflected in their price, then they would not be cut down. Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Fink stated that [ecosystem] services provided by the forests were worth around £8,500 per hectare of forest, as opposed to the £100-200 obtained through agriculture. The true value may in fact be much higher if retrospective carbon sequestration and other historical ecosystem services were included in the valuation.

Businesses including Macdonalds, Goldman Sachs, Shell and Rio Tinto will be represented at tonight's dinner at Mansion House.

See the Prince's Rainforest Project website here: http://www.princesrainforestsproject.org/

Global Biodiversity Loss Estimated at 14 Trillion Euros

A new report commissioned by the European Commission - 'The Cost of Policy Inaction (COPI): The case of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target' - indicates that biodiversity is set to continue declining. Key drivers of biodiversity loss include overexploitation, invasion of non-native species and conversion of natural habitat to agricultural landscapes.

It has long been known that ecosystems provide a wide range of goods and services to humankind, such as the provision of clean water, climate regulation, food and clothing, flood protection to mention but a few. Although these goods and services (Ecosystem Services (ES)) provided by biodiversity have been widely recognised, so far efforts to put a monetary value on these services has proved difficult at best.

The new report attempts to value ecosystem services in terms of the cost to the global economy of future biodiversity loss as a result of policy inaction. The study used a baseline valuation from 2000 to extrapolate ES loss to 2050, assuming predicted population growth takes place with the associated demand for energy and resources and that average global GDP increases 2.8% per annum with the highest growth in China and India.

The key findings of the study include:

• 50 billion Euros worth of biodiversity providing ecosystem services is being lost each year
• Land-based ecosystem loss is estimated at 545 billion Euros by 2010
• Annual loss in ecosystem services from biodiversity loss could exceed 14 trillion Euros by 2050

This study is part of a much larger research effort on a global scale: The Economics of Ecosystems & Biodiversity. It is hoped this study will result in a much wider global awareness of the cost of losing biodiversity and associated ES to mankind in an economic context, and ultimately result in a 'valuation toolkit' that will provide environmental economists and policy-makers a standardised approach to ES valuation.


Download the report here:

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/economics/pdf/copi.zip

Target agreed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. See: http://www.un.org/events/wssd/

BES members and blog readers are invited to comment on this article

Coral Reef Ecosystem Services Valued

A team of environmental economists have asked Bermuda's residents to put a Total Economic Value on Bermuda's reefs.

Household surveys of residents will be used to determine a mean TEV for the reefs, so that fines can be levied against any person or company, found to damage the reefs, whether by ship grounding, propellor scarring or anchor damage. The proposals aim to incorporate the coral reefs into future planning proposals too, so, for example if offshore wind farms are planned to be built over the reefs then their value can be included in any cost benefit analysis.

Project coordinator Dr. Sarkis spoke of the novelty and importance of the work:

"[This is] the first study which gives a voice to the environment, so when people are trying to make decisions and policies, we can bring the environment to the table on an equal footing."

A draft version of a Marine Bill for England's coast has been consulted on by relevant stakeholders and NGOs, including the BES. It is strongly hoped that the Government will take an ecosystem services approach to managing our marine wildlife, as is planned in Bermuda. The BES is actively engaged in work to ensure that British Government take an ecosystems services approach to all future developments proposals whether marine or land-based.

It is hoped that the coral reef valuation project, funded by the UK Overseas territory project, will be completed by mid-2009.

BES members and blog readers are invited to comment

"It's the ecology, stupid"...

It's not the economy, but ecology which is the key to the survival of the human species, stated Sir John Harman, Chairman of the Environment Agency, in his closing remarks to the IEEM summer conference, attended by the BES's Policy Team. Sir John called for a 'new economics' to tackle the tough environmental challenges we face today. He also urged greater collaboration between ecologists and economists and stressed the importance of ecologists engaging with policy-makers.

The theme of the conference was "Moving to an Ecological Economy", with speakers discussing how ecology can drive the valuation of biodiversity and natural resources:

Peter Head, a Director of ARUP, outlined his work with the company in developing Dongtan, an innovative new eco-city to be built in China, on an island north of Shanghai. The first phase of construction will be completed in 2010, and when Dongtan is finished it will provide sustainable, 'green' homes for 80,000 people. Just some of the exciting measures to be adopted in the city include the use of used rice husks to power a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plant, widespread use of photovoltaic cells to harness energy from the sun, the use of anaerobic digesters to process all biological waste and extensive food production within the city to compensate for the land lost through the building of the development.

Peter highlighted the work of ARUP in creating pilot schemes for public-private partnerships, which he hopes will lead to street by street transitions to sustainability and 'one planet living' at, at least initially, a regional scale.

Shulamit Alony, Business and Biodiversity Officer at the Countdown 2010 initative, developed by the IUCN, outlined the work of Countdown 2010 in encouraging Governments to increase momentum towards the CBD target. Countdown 2010 has also been working with industry to 'green' their activities, working with both multi-national companies and small and medium enterprises across Europe whose activities either impact on biodiversity or depend directly on biodiversity for their profits.

David Calpin, Defra's head of strategy in the Natural Environment division, outlined the shift in thinking at Defra towards a holistic whole ecosystems focus, discussing the Ecosystem Approach Action Plan.

Dr Mike Christie, University of Aberystwyth and Salman Hussein, Scottish Agricultural College, discussed separate studies they have undertaken for Defra to put a value on ecosystem services. Dr Christie has undertaken on valuing the Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), whilst Salman Hussein has explored different scenarios for conserving biodiversity as proposed by the Marine Bill. Salman's team have developed a methodology to quantify the economic costs and benefits of implementing Marine Protected Zones as either 'Highly Restricted' or 'Maintenance of Conservation Status', under which different levels of potentially damaging activities would be allowed by the Marine Bill.

Overall, the message to emerge from the day was that innovative work was being undertaken by environmental economists, and by others in the economics and ecological communities in this area. Yet, putting a value on biodiversity and ecosystem services is never going to be simple and much more work is required in order for HM Treasury to take the Ecosystem Approach seriously. The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Review (TEEB) Review, being conducted at EU level, could provide a powerful tool to force the Government to recognise the true cost to the UK of failing to halt biodiversity loss.

A New Model for Investment in Ecosystem Services

A deal between two environmental organisations could provide a blueprint for investment to conserve the world's vital ecosystem services. Canopy Capital, an environmental investment and development company, has struck a deal with Iwokrama International Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development which owns a one million acre area of rainforest in Guyana. Canopy Capital will pay Iwokrama for the ecosystem services generated by the rainforest, including those supporting and regulating services which are often viewed as unquantifiable, such as water storage and climate regulation.

In return for its investment, Canopy Capital will receive a percentage of any income that might one day be made by the rainforest’s ecosystem services. The company hopes that the services will one day become tradeable commodities. Once the organisation has re-couped its investment, 80% of further profits will go back to the reserve to allow Iwokrama to carry out its activities.

Marine Climate Change - UK Impacts

The new published annual report card of the Marine Climate Change Impacts Partnership (MCCIP) shows that marine climate change is having a significant impact on the UK's marine environment. According to the report, 2006 was the second warmest year for UK coastal waters since records began, with seven of the warmest years occurring in the last decade.

Recent warmer conditions have led to a shift in the abundance and geographical distribution in plankton. In turn this has led to reduced prey availability for some seabirds, linked to poor breeding success and reduced survival rates.

Models predict that coastal erosion and flooding will increase, with an increase too in the number of severe storms. This will have a severe impact on the goods and services which the seas can provide, with fishing and farming severely compromised by temperature change and alterations in plankton availability and ports, shipping and built structures all at risk.