Ecosystems Approach

We take an active interest in the development of the ecosystems approach as a practical policy tool. Our main activities are organised through the Natural Capital Initiative (NCI).

The NCI held a policy symposium on this topic from 29 April - 1 May 2009. Speakers' presentations and the reports from the event are available here. For an introduction to the issue, see the article in Biologist: Growth and sustainability: integrating ecosystem services into economics.

The ‘ecosystem approach’ is defined as a holistic strategy for the integrated management of land, water and biodiversity to promote conservation and sustainable, equitable development practices. This approach inextricably links human well-being with the health of ecosystems ensuring that development today does not compromise the needs of future generations. It was put forward by the ground-breaking Millennium Ecosystem Assessment as a framework for sustainable social and economic development, and has met with support from many quarters including the Convention on Biological Diversity; the World Resources Institute; and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as well as being promoted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) in the UK.

In 2007 Defra published two reports articulating this new approach for government policy on the natural environment: the Ecosystems Approach Project - Action Plan, and an Introductory Guide to Valuing Ecosystem Services. The latter deals with the issue of assigning an explicit monetary value to the benefits humans derive from the natural environment such as flood protection, pollination, soil formation and aesthetic enjoyment.

Welcoming the ambitious approach, Professor Jim Harris, member of the NCI Steering Group said:

"The publication of these two reports marks an important step in recognising the value of the goods and services provided to human society flowing from land-based and marine ecosystems, by our national government. It is clearly aimed at joining up thinking and action across government departments in this arena, and will impact on legislation, policy and implementation. It is particularly significant in its implications for the planning regime, and the need for spatially explicit models of the impacts, and potential mitigation, of infrastructure and housing development on our "natural capital", and the responses required to mitigate and adapt to environmental change. I applaud Defra for this pioneering programme."

The economic assessment of ecosystem services is also the subject of a major ongoing international initiative, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, the first reports of which are already available.