JNCC’s Post

The update of the UK Biodiversity Indicator (UKBI) official statistics was published yesterday https://lnkd.in/eTVhgz6h . The overview of trends https://lnkd.in/egGHF-hD sets out broadly what is happening to several indicators. I have been giving a bit of thought to what this is really telling us about nature in the UK. It wasn’t so long ago that IPBES called for transformative change to avert the catastrophic collapse of the nature systems on which all life depends (including ours). Just a couple of months ago in Cali, CBD COP 16 sought to drive forward and make good the commitments to the global biodiversity framework, a recognition of the plight of global biodiversity and ecosystems. The UKBI overview of trends states “Overall, while around half of the assessed indicator measures are improving in the long term, in the short term more are either deteriorating or showing little or no change than improving”. What I think this is probably telling us is that the low hanging fruit of nature conservation have been picked. These steps have mitigated some impacts of human activity in the UK , at least in the short-term, but haven’t really changed the long-term trajectory of UK biodiversity. I suspect this is the story in many nations of the world and in the global oceans. A more cynical person might argue ecosystems and biodiversity are being increasingly pushed to the brink of a tipping point and that is why deterioration has slowed as organisms hang on until they can’t. I feel that the call for transformative change is even more relevant, and we ought to be shouting it from the rooftops. We cannot continue to have separate and siloed discussions about climate, nature, and pollution. I fear that failure to focus on the synergies between these crises will fail to deliver on long-term solutions that will change the narrative of the UKBI and global biodiversity framework indicators to a positive and optimistic story.