Millennium ecosystem assessment

• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA)


  A framework of how thought can use ecosystems more sustainably - humans are part of ecosystems, co-operation is needed
• The MA was a 4 year study from 2001-2005
• MA


  • Focused on how humans have altered ecosystem and how ecosystem change may affect human wellbeing
  • Aimed to provide a clear scientific capture of the current state of ecosystems and the changes they are undergoing
• MA's 4 main conclusions

  • Humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, water, timber, fibre and fuel
  • The changes made to ecosystems have enhanced human well-being and development
  • Ecosystem degradation is set to get worse in the 22nd century
  • Significant changes are needed to reverse the damage and deterioration of ecosystems
• The MA has had a noticeable impact on international conservation orientated NGOs, but much less impact on national NGOs (non-profit government organisations)
• The MA has not been as successful as its aims, and has had limited success in spreading awareness
• Conventions and agreements the MA is linked to

  • Convention on Biological Diversity
  • Convention to Combat Desertification
  • Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
  • Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
• The MA has had a notable impact on international conservation
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment


  An international work program designed to meet the needs of decisionmakers and the public for scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and options for responding to those changes

  
• This toolkit was created by Island Press
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Toolkit

  2007

  
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Toolkit

  • Provides an overview of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and its key findings
  • Provides examples of how people around the world are using the principles of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment to protect natural systems
  • Provides resources to help you bring the lessons of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment home to your community and organization

  
• Human beings are wholly dependent on nature. Our health, prosperity, and security are all connected to the planet's natural systems — or what scientists call "ecosystems"
• Healthy ecosystems supply us with food, fresh water, clean air, and a stable climate. They protect us from disease and disaster, and allow us to make choices about our way of life
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment


  • Comprehensive: Conducted by 1,360 experts in 95 countries, synthesizing information from scientific literature and peer-reviewed datasets and models, and drawing on the knowledge of local communities
  • Integrated: Weaves together studies on ecosystem health at a variety of scales to present an integrated, holistic view of the planet's ecosystems and their implications for human well-being
  • Authoritative: Each part of the assessment has been scrutinized by independent scientists, governments, and experts to ensure the accuracy of its findings
  • Inclusive: Draws on the experience and knowledge of indigenous people, marginalized communities, and citizens of the developing world
  • People-centered: Underlines the urgency of finding a new relationship between human systems and natural systems

  
• While living standards have generally improved over the past two centuries, human activity is putting such strain on nature that we are undermining the Earth's capacity to support current and future generations
• We are living beyond our means: recent gains in quality of life have come at considerable cost to the natural systems on which we all depend
• If we act now, we can avoid irreversible damage to ecosystems and human well-being. But this will require a sea-change in the way we think about and use natural resources
• Who is using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

  • Financial institutions
  • Governments
  • Organizations
  • Multilateral institutions
  • Universities

  
• Key Findings: Living Beyond Our Means

  • All people depend on nature and ecosystem services to provide the conditions for a decent, healthy, and secure life
  • In the last half-century, people have made unprecedented changes to the planet's ecosystems — largely to meet rising demands for food, fresh water, fiber, and energy
  • These changes have improved the lives of many, but have also weakened nature's ability to deliver key services, disproportionately affecting the poor
  • We are living beyond our means: some 60 percent of the ecosystem services examined are being degraded or used in unsustainable ways
  • Pressures on ecosystems will grow significantly worse during the first half of this century, unless human attitudes and actions change
  • There is growing evidence that many ecosystems could reach "tipping points" with grave implications for human well-being
  • We have the technology and knowledge to make changes that will protect ecosystems and human well-being
  • We must stop thinking of nature's services as free and limitless, and take nature's full value into account
• Ecosystem services


  The services of nature that all people depend on, such as providing food, fresh water, air, and a stable climate, and protecting us from disease and disaster
• In the last 50 years, people have modified ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable period of human history, largely to meet soaring demands for food, fresh water, fiber, and fuel
• By reshaping ecosystems, we have improved the lives of billions, but the changes we have made to natural systems are not without costs, which are disproportionately borne by the poor and marginalized
• About 60 percent of the ecosystem services examined in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment are being degraded or used in ways that cannot be sustained

  
• Biodiversity - the variability among living organisms - is an important feature of healthy ecosystems because it increases their flexibility and resilience
• Human activities have increased the extinction rate by as much as 1,000 times the "natural" rate, and introduced non-native species that disrupt the balance of natural systems
• The burning of fossil fuels has released large quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, influencing global weather systems and potentially leading to catastrophic events like rising sea levels and intensified storms, floods, and droughts
• The cost of ecosystem change is often felt by people far away from those enjoying the benefits of natural services
• To prevent irreversible damage to natural systems, we must make sweeping changes in the way we use and think about natural resources
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework


  A people-centered approach that focuses on understanding and meeting environmental challenges in order to improve human well-being

  
• Ecosystem


  An ever-changing complex of living things interacting with the non-living environment. Human beings are integral parts of ecosystems; our actions shape ecosystems and our well-being is tied to them.
• Ecosystem services


  The benefits people obtain from ecosystems
• Examples of ecosystem services

  • The stuff of life - food, fresh water, timber, and fiber for clothing
  • Protection from extreme weather, floods, fire, and disease
  • Regulation of the Earth's climate
  • Filtration of wastes and pollutants
  • Regeneration of clean air, water, and soil
  • Inspiration, recreation and spiritual sustenance, and support for a way of life
• In the last half-century, humans have reshaped ecosystems as never before
• Examples of how humans have changed ecosystems


  • More land converted to cropland than in the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries combined
  • Water withdrawals from rivers and lakes for irrigation, household and industrial use doubled in the last 40 years
  • Humans have doubled the amount of nitrogen in the environment
  • Human-induced climate change is expected to raise the planet's mean surface temperature and sea levels
  • At least one quarter of marine fish stocks are overexploited or significantly depleted
  • Humans are currently responsible for the sixth major extinction event in the history of the Earth
• How changes to ecosystems affect human well-being

  • Health - human health is intimately tied to natural systems
  • Economy - our economies are built on the products of healthy ecosystems
  • Security - our personal and national security rests on a foundation of goods and services provided by nature
• Understanding value of ecosystem services

  It can be difficult to identify and value ecosystem services, but it is important to understand the many values an ecosystem can provide

  
• The MA framework recognizes that it can be very difficult to identify and value ecosystem services and how that, in turn, complicates understanding their role in human well-being and policy making
• The MA encourages us to understand the full range of values an ecosystem can provide to create better informed policy
• Valuing ecosystem services


  May be derived by assessing existing markets, examining how much people are willing to pay or work for access, evaluating relationships to other services, or recognizing intrinsic value