Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is an international process designed to meet the needs of decision makers and the public for scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and options for responding to those changes. Leading scientists from more than 100 nations will conduct the assessment, with oversight by a Board comprised of representatives of four international conventions, five United Nations agencies, international scientific organizations, and leaders from the private sector, NGOs, and indigenous groups. The MA is designed to meet some of the assessment needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Wetlands Convention, as well as needs of other users in the private sector and civil society. It was launched by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in June 2001. The first products will be released in 2003, and the main products will be released in 2004. It is anticipated that a process like the MA will be repeated every 5 to 10 years.

Bridging Scales and Knowledge Systems

Concepts and Applications in Ecosystem Assessment

Bridging the gap between local knowledge and western science is essential to understanding the world's ecosystems and the ways in which humans interact with and shape those ecosystems. This book brings together a group of world-class scientists in an unprecedented effort to build a formal framework for linking local and indigenous knowledge with the global scientific enterprise.

Contributors explore the challenges, costs, and benefits of bridging scales and knowledge systems in assessment processes and in resource management.

Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Our Human Planet

Summary for Decision Makers

Our Human Planet summarizes the findings of the four working groups and serves as a reference guide to the four main volumes in the MA series. It presents the key findings of each of the working groups, providing an overview of the framework used by the assessment, and will serve as a guide for assessment, planning, and management for the future.

Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

A Framework For Assessment

Ecosystems and Human Well-being is the first product of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a four-year international work program designed to meet the needs of decision-makers for scientific information on the links between ecosystem change and human well-being. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and will provide information requested by governments, through four international conventions, as well as meeting needs within the private sector and civil society.