Home

The two-year UK National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) will study the period from the end of World War 2 to 2060. The aim is to produce a compelling and easily understood explanation of the state and value of the UK’s natural environment.

The project follows the groundbreaking 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment which, while demonstrating the importance of ecosystems to human wellbeing, also showed how many were being degraded or lost.  The UK NEA will cover land-based, freshwater and marine ecosystems, with descriptions for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.  It will examine the range of benefits or services that ecosystems provide to people but will also consider the impact of events such as land use change, infrastructure development, pollution and global warming.  A series of scenarios will help inform policy makers about future action.

The NEA is co-chaired by Defra’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor Bob Watson, and by Professor Steve Albon of the Macaulay Institute. They will lead an Expert Panel of 25 scientists, economists and policy-makers. The project will be part of the United Nations Environment Programme and is sponsored by Defra and the three devolved administrations.