Accredited official statistics

Introduction to the England Biodiversity Indicators

Updated 7 May 2024

Applies to England

Data last updated: November 2023

1. Contact details

Responsible Statistician: Clare Betts

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at:

enviro.statistics@defra.gov.uk

or by post to:

Environmental Statistics and Reporting team
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Mallard House
Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green
York
YO1 7PX

2. Introduction

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth. It includes all species of animals and plants, and the natural systems that support them. Biodiversity matters because it supports the vital benefits we get from the natural environment. It contributes to our economy, our health and wellbeing, and it enriches our lives.

In 2011, the government published Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services. This ambitious biodiversity strategy for England built on the Natural Environment White Paper and provided a comprehensive picture of how we’re implementing our international commitments. It set out the strategic direction for biodiversity policy for the next decade on land (including rivers and lakes) and at sea. It built on the successful work that had gone before, but also sought to deliver a real step change.

‘Biodiversity 2020’ also included plans to develop and publish a compact set of indicators to assess progress with delivery of the strategy. They were to be outcome-focused with an emphasis on indicators showing the status of components of biodiversity and with additional response and pressure indicators to show progress with the priority actions set out in the strategy. The indicators were grouped by the 4 themes of the European Union (EU) Biodiversity Strategy; a more integrated large-scale approach to conservation on land and at sea; putting people at the heart of biodiversity policy; reducing environmental pressures; and improving our knowledge.

The UK Government is a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and is committed to the biodiversity goals and targets (the ‘Aichi targets’) agreed in 2010 and set out in the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 (PDF). The government’s indicators remain relevant to the 2020 Strategy and to the international framework of Aichi targets and in 2012, a refreshed set of 24 Biodiversity 2020 indicators was published.

Much has changed since the indicators were last reviewed in 2012, such as the passing of the Environment Act 2021 which includes a new species abundance target. During 2022 and 2023 the UK and England Biodiversity Indicators are being assessed alongside the Environment Improvement Plan Targets, and the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework targets. When this work has been completed the references to Biodiversity 2020 and the Aichi Global Biodiversity Framework Targets will be updated and any changes to indicators will be explained in the relevant chapters.

The Biodiversity indicators are dependent on a wide variety of data, provided by government, research bodies, and the voluntary sector. As Official Statistics, the presentation and assessment of the indicators has been verified by the data providers, and the production and editing of the indicators has been overseen by government statisticians in Defra.

The England Biodiversity Indicators are an accredited official statistics compendium, otherwise known as National Statistics. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

See Official statistics for further details.

3. Global Biodiveristy Framework - Convention on Biological Diversity

The Convention on Biological Diversity 15th Conference of the parties (CoP15) took place in Montreal in December 2022, where the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF) was agreed. This consists of new set of global targets, indicators to measure progress against the targets, and a reporting framework. The key elements of this are 4 goals for 2050 and 23 targets for 2030. All Parties to the CBD will be expected to report on their progress towards these goals and targets in 2025 and 2029.

Each of the 4 countries in the UK have their own set of biodiversity indicators that assess progress to targets set out in national biodiversity strategies. These indicator sets will be reviewed in light of the KMGBF and the new global goals and targets it includes. The Biodiversity Indicators production team are currently working alongside the devolved administrations and Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies (SNCBs) to review the existing country level indicator sets against the UK Biodiversity Indicators (UKBIs), noting areas where UK indicators can be disaggregated to country level and where country level data can be aggregated to a national level. These findings are currently being used to assess whether there is potential to align UK and country level indicators more closely.

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) have been working alongside Defra and the devolved administrations and SNCBs to review the KMGBF goals, targets and headline indicators against the current suite of UK Biodiversity Indicators, England Biodiversity Indicators, and other biodiveristy indicators produced by the SNCBs. A proposal for a new set of UKBIs to report progress towards the KMGBF goals and targets is expected to be finalised in 2024.

4. Environment Improvement Plan

The England Biodiversity Indicators (EBI) were designed to assess progress with delivery of Biodiversity 2020: A strategy for England’s wildlife and ecosystem services.

The development of Environment Act targets and indicators began in 2021 and were laid in parliament in December 2022. The Environment Improvement Plan, which lays out the UK governments plan for improving the state of the environment, was published in January 2023. The England Biodiversity Indicators are currently being reviewed with this in mind, and a proposal for a new suite of England Biodiversity Indicators is expected in 2024.