PARENT SESSION
Special Session 12: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Part I: A synthesis of core findings
Organized by: EM Bennett and H Mooney
Thursday, August 11, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Exhibit Hall 210a-e, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

The role of biodiversity in ecosystem services.

Naeem, Shahid^*,1, Duraiappah, Anantha², ¹ Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, New York, NY, USA² International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

ABSTRACT- The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was carried out by approximately 1300 experts from 95 countries between 2002 and 2005 to assess the consequences of ecosystem change. Central to this unique assessment, conducted by both social and natural scientists, was the examination of linkages between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and human well-being. Six findings concerning these linkages emerged from a synthetic appraisal of the extensive MA analyses. First, biodiversity contributes directly and indirectly to human well-being. Second, human actions are fundamentally altering all the components of biodiversity, but the dominant changes are biodiversity loss and the homogenization of biodiversity (i.e., widespread biological invasion). Third, the societal costs and risks associated with these changes, in terms of lost services and lost biological insurance, often outweigh the benefits accrued. Fourth, the drivers of biodiversity loss are either steady, show no evidence of decline, or are increasing in intensity. Fifth, current methods and actions taken to conserve biodiversity to promote its sustainable use work, but further progress will require a portfolio of actions that focus on the direct and indirect drivers of biodiversity loss and homogenization. Finally, substantial efforts would be needed to achieve by the target year of 2010 a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss, though some reduction may be possible for a few components of biodiversity. Collectively these findings support substantial societal benefits to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. Further progress, however, requires significant advances in several areas. These include measuring biodiversity (taxonomic measures are insufficient), devising methods for conservation and sustainable use that address the drivers of change, recognizing that there is inertia in the response of biodiversity to changes in drivers and inertia in the responses of humans to change, and recognizing and addressing tradeoffs and synergies in biodiversity conservation with other societal goals.

Key words: biodiversity, human, well-being, ecosystem-service