Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
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New approach to natural environment policy
An action plan which sets a new direction for government policy on the natural environment has been published by Defra today.
The Ecosystems Approach Action Plan signals a move away from separate natural environment policies on wildlife, water, soil, and air quality towards a more joined-up approach taking account of the natural environment as a whole.
Central to the action plan is the idea that living things and their physical environment depend on each other - changes in one part of our environment can have consequences, positive and negative, on another.
This new approach also seeks to ensure that the full range of benefits that a healthy natural environment provides - 'ecosystem services' - are fully recognised in policy and decision-making in Defra and across Government. This highlights the fact that the environment supports economic and social development. To guide policy-makers and economists in valuing these environmental benefits, Defra has produced an Introductory Guide to Valuing Ecosystem Services.
Joan Ruddock, Minister for Climate Change, Biodiversity and Waste said:
"This new approach highlights the link between environmental, social and economic wellbeing. Significant progress has been made in tackling environmental pollution and degradation. We have achieved improvements in air and water quality, halted the decline in farmland birds and improved the condition of many of our nationally important wildlife sites, but there are still many pressures on the natural environment.
"This Action Plan sets out a new direction for protecting and enhancing the natural environment. It is intended to help us deliver a number of important benefits, including better-informed decisions, more efficient use of resources, and a greater awareness of the value of our natural environment."
The Action Plan is intended to deliver a number of important benefits:
* more effective delivery of our environmental outcomes
* better-informed decisions that take full account of environmental impacts
* better prioritisation and more efficient use of our resources
* more effective communications and greater awareness of the value of the natural environment and ecosystem services
* enable Defra and delivery partners to better respond to changing pressures, including climate change
Notes for Editors
1. A copy of the 'Ecosystems Approach Action Plan' and 'Guide to Valuing Ecosystem Services' can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/natres/eco-actionp.htm
2. The Action Plan has been developed with key partners and stakeholders including Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission.
3. The Action Plan identifies 37 actions for Defra, its partners and stakeholders. Priority areas for action include:
* Promoting joined-up working within Defra and the Defra network to deliver environmental outcomes more effectively
* Identifying opportunities for mainstreaming an ecosystems approach
* Case studies which demonstrate the benefits of taking an ecosystems
approach
* Developing ways of valuing ecosystem services
* Developing a robust evidence base
4. An ecosystem is a natural unit of living things (animals including humans; plants; and micro-organisms) and their physical environment. The living and non-living elements function together as an interdependent system - if one part is damaged it can have an impact on the whole system.
5. Ecosystems can be terrestrial, marine, inland, coastal, rural or urban and vary in scale. On the continental level examples include rainforests, deserts and coral reefs, however closer to home they can be different types of habitats (e.g. woodlands, grassland, marshes, heathland, rivers, peat bogs, rocky shores) or in the urban environment parks, gardens, rivers and streams. Many ecosystems overlap and interact.
6. The ecosystems approach considers the environment as a whole - bringing together land, water, air, soil and biodiversity, recognising that their specific linkages provide a wide variety of services and benefits that are not specific to any one part.
7. The Action Plan represents significant progress in the government response to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the first global assessment of the natural environment, which warned that degradation in ecosystems will be a significant barrier to achievement of the Millennium Development goals. http://www.millenniumassessment.org
8. This new approach will help to deliver the new natural environment Public Service Agreement which, for the first time, sets out responsibilities across government for protecting and enhancing the natural environment. The PSA aims 'To secure a diverse, healthy and resilient natural environment, which provides the basis for everyone's well-being, health and prosperity now and in the future; and where the value of the services provided by the natural environment are reflected in decision-making'
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