What is it about? Presents first results of applying MAES analytical framework and outlines the advantages and constraints of European ecosystem assessments. Provides an overview about existing knowledge and gaps in ecosystem condition assessment at European level. Explores opportunities to use the status data reported under environmental directives and links them to main pressures on European ecosystems. Includes short assessments of ecosystem condition and trends for the following ecosystem types used in the MAES process - urban, cropland, grassland, woodland and forests, heathland and shrub and vegetated land, wetlands, freshwater, marine. Describes how MAES provides the knowledge base for the deployment of Green Infrastructure and the restoration of degraded ecosystems. Links to ecosystem service assessment and ecosystem capital accounting. Proposes methodology for the assessment of ecosystem service supply. Announcement of MAES Report / EEA Technical Report Mapping and assessing the condition of Europe’s ecosystems Progress and challenges Release: February 2016 Key outcomes: Mapping ecosystems and their condition is essential for measuring progress towards the target of developing green infrastructure and restoring at least 15% of degraded ecosystems by This report synthesises a number of EEA’s recent outputs and puts them in to a cause-effect framework to analyse the pressures and their impacts on ecosystem condition, so that policy makers can design a suitable response. All major ecosystems are assessed on the basis of a common methodology, allowing comparisons regarding condition and the level of threat. Habitat change, including loss and fragmentation, and pollution have had the greatest overall impact across ecosystems to date, and pressures are still increasing in more than 60% of the cases. However, climate change pressures are projected to increase significantly across all ecosystems in future. Future ecosystem assessments need better information in particular in relation to urban and marine ecosystems as well as spatial data to support the mapping of biodiversity impacts. We also need to improve our understanding of the combined effects of multiple pressures as well as the links between biodiversity, ecosystem condition and ecosystem services. Draft version available online: assessing-condition-europes-ecosystems_draft-dec assessing-condition-europes-ecosystems_draft-dec-2015 Contact: Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services

Related documents More useful links European Commission: Ecosystem assessment: European Commission mid-term review of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020: BISE Information System: BISE- Platform Ecosystem / Ecosystem Service Assessment: MAES digital atlas MAES catalogue of case studies: Map ecosystem types for Europe: Ecosystem services: Ecosystem Service Classification: The Ecosystem Services Partnership: Natural Capital Accounting: Web page on natural capital accounting: / / Research Projects: ESMERALDA project: OPPLA (FP7 projects OPERAs and OpenNess Project): Dec MAES analytical framework (2013) Policy framework Ecosystem typology Ecosystem service classification MAES indicators for ecosystem assessments (2014) Related policies Assessing ecosystem condition Assessing ecosystem service (data and indicators) Natural capital accounting Towards integrated assessment JRC science and policy report: Trends in ecosystems and ecosystem services in the European Union between 2000 and 2010 (2015) Trends in ecosystems Trends in ecosystem services Data sources Mapping ecosystem services EEA Technical Report 6/2015 European ecosystem assessment: concept, data, and implementation Concept for European ecosystem assessment Implementation Mapping methods Data availability