October 10, 2021

The Natural History Museum’s Biodiversity Trends Explorer – how much nature is left in the UK and other countries?

In the run up to COP15 scientists at the Natural History Museum have developed a new tool, the Biodiversity Trends Explorer, to show the latest estimates of how much nature is left in a given area of land. The tool also lets users track modelled biodiversity changes since 2000 – globally, nationally and regionally – and compare the Biodiversity Intactness Index – a measure of how much of nature still remains – across different countries. Critically, it also allows users to predict the impacts of different possible socioeconomic futures on nature over the coming decades.

Journalists dialled in to this briefing to hear the scientists explain their analysis and the tool and discuss aspects such as:

– Why is biodiversity loss just as urgent a crisis as climate change?

– How does the UK fare in this analysis?

– How does the Biodiversity Trends Explorer work?

– How might it help in COP15?

– What new insights does it offer?

– What are the different possible economic futures and their impact on nature?

– What outcomes from COP15 do we need to see?

Speakers included:

Prof Andy Purvis, Natural History Museum

Dr Adriana De Palma, Natural History Museum