BES response to the IPBES biodiversity report: This matters

The IPBES Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is intended to inform better policies and actions in the coming decades.

Professor Richard Bardgett, President of the British Ecological Society, said:

“The report lays out the scale and magnitude of the crisis we are facing. The weight of evidence of species and habitat loss, the breadth of expertise, and the number of countries agreeing the text makes the IPBES assessment impossible to ignore.

“The IPBES report makes it abundantly clear what will happen to the natural world if we continue as we are. This matters – not only for conserving the nature we see around us, but also for maintaining and increasing our own wellbeing and prosperity. Biodiversity and thriving ecosystems are critical for sustaining the natural resources on which our economy depends.

“IPBES describe themselves as seeking to do for biodiversity what the IPCC and its reports have done for climate change. They have set out the scientific evidence in ways that can inform policy and have pointed to actions that will be necessary to turn around these declines. It is now for scientists, governments and communities around the world to take up the challenge as a matter of urgency, and find, test and implement the actions that will enable nature and people to thrive.”

This matters. Biodiversity and thriving ecosystems are critical for sustaining the natural resources on which our economy depends.

Professor Bardgett adds: “My own research in the relatively unexplored world of soil illustrates just how important biodiversity is. Food crops need fertile soils, and this is influenced by the vast variety of organisms that live in the soil. The diversity of plants above ground, and the birds and mammals that live off them, also rely on a healthy, biologically diverse soil. Science can help identify land management practices that sustain biodiversity for everyone’s benefit – but we will only see real change where the right government policies and economic incentives are in place to support it.”