Biodiversity Programme Advisory Group - sub group EH and I indicator: recommendations

3. Sub-group recommendations

The sub-group recommends: that a single measure of Ecosystem Health and Integrity (option A) is adopted and the Ecosystem Red List is the preferred indicator framework to use. There was broad agreement however that the Ecosystem Red List assessment should incorporate outputs from some of the systems-based indicators associated with Option B so that ecosystem functionality is more explicitly considered.

3.1 The PAG sub-group's reasoning for these recommendations were as follows:

• The Ecosystem Red List approach allows the assessment of all ecosystems across both terrestrial and marine environments.
• It provides flexibility both in how different ecosystems are assessed and in updating the methodology for undertaking red list assessments in the future.
• The approach aligns with the headline indicator for the Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Incorporating information within the red list assessment on some of the systems-based indicators within Option B such as carbon balance, nutrient status etc. allows a broader systems assessment to understand which ecosystems are functioning within their natural range and which are at risk.
• Having a single overall indicator would make it easier to set a target against and is a potentially simpler message to communicate.
• It would be possible to update the indicator on a timescale that is both meaningful to detect change and to be useful in informing Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plans (~5 years was suggested as an update frequency)

3.2 While the PAG recommends this option it is by no means inclusive of all aspects of Ecosystem Health and Integrity identified for the target topic, with the following potential limitations discussed:

• The group discussed that it would make it difficult to undertake a national aggregated assessment of some of the functionality aspects that adopting Option B fully would provide.
• Creating individual Ecosystem Red List assessments for ~70 ecosystems identified in Scotland presents a significant resource undertaking that would likely need inputs from a number of agencies and core SG directorates.
• While the flexibility of the approach is a key positive, some of the assessments will be heavily reliant on expert-led assessment which could make some aspects more qualitative than quantitative.