6.2 Learning from the various landscape scale approaches to restore nature will be an important part of tracking progress. To foster this, we will establish an Ecosystems Knowledge Network. Run by an independent organisation, this network will involve our environmental bodies and include local projects, drawing on practical experience to share learning and good practice.It will facilitate a joined-up approach to ecosystem management,helpinglocal communities to learn from each other.
6.3 Many organisations throughout this country already hold an immense wealth of information on the natural environment; this increases every year. Chapter 4 sets out action to support the
contribution that individual volunteers and community organisations make to the monitoring of nature. The UK Environmental Observation Framework has already significantly improved the co-ordination of monitoring activities, so that data are made available in a coherent way. We will take forward environmental monitoring in partnership with these organisations, seeking their help and expertise. In addition, and in line with the approach taken by the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), we will be joining up the Government’s own environmental monitoring, to enhance our understanding of the state of ecosystem services.
6.4 The Government will also reflect the true value of nature in monitoring wider economic and social trends, so we get a rounded picture of progress over time. The Office for National Statistics will produce better national measures to achieve this. Chapter 3
showed how our national economic measures will more fully reflect the value of natural capital and, by complementing the Gross Domestic Product, will signal the extent to which economic activity is benefiting from and supporting natural capital. In line with the measures in Chapter 4, the new measures of national wellbeing which are in development will reflect our dependency on the natural environment for the quality of our lives.
6.5 In addition, we will develop a set of key indicators by spring 2012 to track progress on the ambitions of this White Paper.Existing indicators will be reviewed and streamlined; crucial gaps will be identified to provide a comprehensive overview of progress. The review will suggest where indicators are needed; the data on which they should be based; how we can make best use of existing or new data collection processes; and whether the Government is best placed to manage their compilation. These indicators will embrace a new, compact set of biodiversity indicators for the Biodiversity Strategy for England. We will consult on them and finalise them by spring 2012. They will flow from the commitments we agreed at Nagoya and in the EU Biodiversity Strategy.
6.6 The NEA has produced a model for a more integrated approach to reporting about all aspects of the state of the natural environment. By spring 2012, we will review how indicators and other environmental statistics are reported and the extent to which existing reporting meets the needs of government and other key audiences. The review will explore how important indicators and statistics can be brought together to provide an accessible, independent and reliable statistical assessment of the natural environment. Reporting on indicators will also be used to strengthen the profile of the natural environment. In addition, the Government’s environmental bodies will co-ordinate more closely when reporting on the state of the environment. As part of this approach,
the Government, through its environmental bodies, will periodically publish a single, concise and integrated report about the state of the environment on land.This follows a similar arrangement whereby a single report is published about the state of our seas. This report will be supported as new data become available, by the production of web-based thematic reports, available through a single portal, about the state of different aspects of the environment in England. This will
complement the measures in chapter 4 to improve access to and interaction with environmental data.
6.7 Tracking business progress matters too. Chapter 3 set a challenge for businesses to improve their performance in managing natural capital, and outlined measures to help them do so. Environmental
reporting by business provides a way for customers, shareholders, civil society, government and investors to see how businesses are rising to this challenge. The ‘responsible investment’ community is worth many billions of dollars. Many listed companies in the UK report on their environmental performance in their annual report. A number of organisations assess company environmental performance, such as Experts in Responsible Investment Solutions (EIRIS)78 and FTSE4Good.79 Analysis by the Environment Agency80 found that only two-thirds of company reports in 2009/10 included quantified environmental information. The Environment Agency will continue to analyse company environmental reporting and to publish periodic assessments.
Chapter 2: Protecting and Improving
our Natural Environment
We want to improve the quality of our natural
environment across England, moving to a net gain in the value of nature. We aim to arrest the decline in habitats and species and the degradation of landscapes. We will protect priority habitats and safeguard vulnerable non- renewable resources for future generations. We will support natural systems to function more effectively in town, in the country and at sea. We will achieve this through joined-up action at local and national level to create an ecological network which is resilient to changing pressures.