UK Biodiversity Indicators

The UK is fortunate in having lots of information about its biodiversity, collected across a broad spread of species and habitats both by professionals and by expert amateurs. This information provides an essential source of evidence for reporting biodiversity change and the impact of policies and actions to conserve biodiversity.

Indicators are one of the means the UK can communicate the results of monitoring and surveillance. The audience for indicators is extremely broad, from the general public to all parts of the private and public sectors.

The idea of a headline suite of indicators, easily understood and communicated to all, supported by additional data and background information to aid interpretation and provide more detail, has proved to be a robust model and the most effective solution for communicating such a difficult subject to such a wide audience. The UK approach to biodiversity indicators has been well received internationally and has helped to place the UK at the forefront of international work on this subject.

The UK biodiversity indicators have been developed in a co-operative fashion, with input from government, statutory agencies, non-governmental organisations, and academic institutes. A series of biodiversity indicator forum meetings have been held to debate issues and capture ideas from a variety of stakeholders.

The UK biodiversity indicators publication is designated by Defra as National Statistics¹. The publication is overseen by Government Statisticians in Defra and is subject to review by the UK Statistics Authority.

Much of the data collection and reporting undertaken by non-governmental organisations is already statistically robust. Government and its Agencies work with such organisations to ensure that methodologies and the reporting of results are meeting the standards in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Where data are derived from external organisations, whether statutory bodies, research institutes or NGOs, the final presentation of the indicators is checked with the data suppliers prior to publication to ensure the data are presented accurately and objectively.

For more information about the UK biodiversity indicators, visit UK Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket (BIYP), updated on 20 May 2011 with the most recent information on the indicator suite.

For more information about biodiversity and wildlife statistics released by Defra, visit the Defra website.

¹ Across government and linked bodies, very high importance is given to ensuring trustworthy statistics are produced to inform decision making and ensure accountability to the public. The Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 established the independent UK Statistical Authority which has statutory authority to oversee the standards for the production and dissemination of official statistics across Government. The Authority has established a Code of Practice for Official Statistics and assesses compliance with this. This includes the monitoring of the pre-access rules which strictly limits who can see the final figures in advance of publication. Together these set the standards for assuring that the statistics are produced objectively and impartially to high professional standards.