The latest (2025) update of the UK Biodiversity Indicators has been published today (Tuesday 2 December). First published in 2007, this is the 18th update of the UK Biodiversity Indicators. Defra and JNCC also produce the closely related England Biodiversity Indicators which have also been updated today.
Indicators are useful tools for summarising and communicating broad trends. The UK Biodiversity Indicators includes 39 indicators, comprising 68 measures in total. The 2025 update of the UK Biodiversity Indicators includes data updates for 53 measures, across 27 indicators. Some of these are brand new indicators developed to report to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
In the 2025 update, more indicators are deteriorating or showing no change than improving, over both the long and short term.
- Over the long term, many indicators have shown improvement, reflecting sustained positive changes in some aspects of biodiversity. However, many have also deteriorated, reflecting ongoing pressures on ecosystems. A smaller group of indicators has remained broadly stable over time.
- Of the indicators which are deteriorating in the long term, none are showing improvement in the short term, suggesting that we are yet to reverse the negative trend in many aspects of biodiversity. However, some have stopped deteriorating in the short term, suggesting that some long term negative trends have stabilised.
- Many indicators already showing improvement in the long term continue to improve in the short term. However, some progress has stalled or even deteriorated in the short term.
The UK Biodiversity Indicators were created to provide measures for reporting on the UK’s progress towards meeting international biodiversity goals and targets, and they were previously used to report progress on the Aichi Targets in the UK’s 6th national report to the CBD in 2019.
In 2022 the UK, along with almost 200 countries, adopted the CBD’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). This includes 4 goals for 2050, and 23 targets for 2030, along with a monitoring framework with agreed indicators to enable all countries to provide comparative reports of progress.
JNCC has been working with Defra to revise some of the existing UK Biodiversity Indicators and to develop new indicators. The 2025 publication includes new and adjusted indicators to increase alignment with the GBF. The revised set of UK Biodiversity Indicators is informed by recommendations from a recent review, and international guidance on indicator methods for GBF reporting.
We would particularly welcome feedback on how the new indicators and those being developed could be improved and how they are presented. Please contact us at: biodiversity@defra.gov.uk.
The process of revising and developing the indicators involved input from Defra and the country nature conservation bodies, alongside the Biodiversity Indicators Steering Group, which includes experts from Devolved Governments and environmental non-governmental organisations.
The UK Biodiversity Indicators are an accredited official statistics compendium and are dependent on a wide variety of data, provided by government, research bodies, and the voluntary sector – in total nearly 100 organisations are involved.
Some of the indicators in the publication are underpinned by data gathered through some of JNCC’s 11 schemes that monitor species across the UK. Monitoring schemes are critical in helping us understand trends in the environment and how policies are influencing nature conservation.
JNCC would like to express many thanks to everyone who has contributed to the publication of the UK Biodiversity Indicators, including the many thousands of volunteers who record wildlife sightings. Your effort and dedication are very much appreciated.
To find out more, visit UK Biodiversity Indicators.
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