Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Follow-up Group
Terms of Reference | Membership

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Terms of Reference

One of the recommendations from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) Partners Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in September 2004 was that ICSU and UNESCO should take the lead in addressing how the experiences from the MA could help identify needs for additional research that could fill some of the knowledge gaps identified by the Assessment. The need for such an analysis has also been stressed in the follow-up discussions in relation to the development of a proposal for a GEF Medium Size Grant. UNU has later agreed to join ICSU and UNESCO in this follow-up activity and it has been decided to move forward despite the uncertain fate of the GEF proposal.

The MA involved a large number of scientists worldwide and through the assessment process it was realized that sufficient scientific knowledge was not always available both at the sub-global and global levels.

There is a seamless link between research and assessments. The development of a science agenda will hopefully stimulate the science community to conduct additional research to address key issues in linking ecosystem services and human well-being. This is still a new area of research, which is hampered by universities and funding agencies often not structured in such a way as to stimulate research on the links between ecological and social systems.

There are several initiatives, such as the Earth System Science Partnership (the four global change research programmes of ICSU and others), the Resilience Alliance, UNESCO-MAB, etc, that already exists and contribute substantially in engaging the international science community. In addition, ICSU with partners published a report on Science, Technology and Innovation for Sustainable Development (ICSU-ISTS-TWAS, 2005) as a follow-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The development of a science agenda based on experiences from the MA should build on, and involve scientists from, the sub-global assessments. The initiative could also help stimulate the development of new sub-global assessments by engaging the science community in reflections over research needed to assess linked ecological-social systems. During the 2004 consultation, it was recommended that the following actions were especially urgent as follow-up to the MA:

1. A methodological handbook, currently developed by WRI, was considered by the MA Board as the highest follow-up priority. This document will also be essential for stimulating further sub-global assessments;
2. The “main-streaming” at the national level through the World Bank Institute, UNDP and others;
3. A coordination function to be established for a limited period of time to maintain the enthusiasm among the sub-global assessment and help stimulate the development of new ones in important systems not covered by the formal MA assessments;
4. An assessment of the gaps in scientific knowledge identified through the MA process. This priority is addressed through this document.

   Thus, all four follow-up components are intimately linked and all necessary to ensure the use of the MA results both by the science community and non-academic end-users.

ICSU, UNESCO and UNU will convene a Scoping Group of experts with relevant natural and social science disciplinary competence representing experiences from the MA as well as the relevant sub-global assessments to produce a report on the priority research gaps that need to be filled in order to improve any future global or-sub-global Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.
The Scoping Group shall:

1. Based on the outcomes of MA in general, and two synthesis papers that have been developed in particular, identify key knowledge gaps that should be filled through additional scientific research;
2. Prioritize research needs and indicate, whenever possible, the need for research at global versus regional scales;
3. Consider whether scientific progress will best be achieved through a decentralized bottom-up approach, regional foci through research/assessment projects, and/or an internationally coordinated research effort;
4. Suggest ways by which a research agenda could be further developed to address the identified priority knowledge gaps; and
5. Discuss and agree on possible mechanisms for implementing research to fill targeted knowledge gaps.

The report will be transmitted to ICSU, UNESCO and UNU. If the report recommends further development of international and/or regional coordinated approaches, ICSU, UNESCO and UNU will engage the wider science community and other potential MA partners (e.g., IUCN, WRI, etc.) to consider appropriate mechanisms to develop a science and implementation plan, related time schedules, resource needs and possible partnerships, to address the identified research gaps.

It is envisaged that the small group of experts will be convened soon and that a first meeting should be arranged in the latter part of 2006. It is anticipated that most developments will be conducted through electronic communication and conference calls. However, at least one more meeting will be convened to agree on the final report, which should be finished before mid-2007.

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Membership

Chair: Harold Mooney (USA)

Members:

• John Agard (Trinidad and Tobago)
• Stephen R. Carpenter (USA)
• Doris Capistrano (USA)
• Ruth DeFries (USA)
• Sandra Día (Argentina)
• Tom Dietz (USA)
• Anantha K. Duraiappah (Kenya)
• Alfred Oteng-Yeboah (Ghana)
• Henrique Miguel Pereira (Portugal)
• Charles Perrings (USA)
• Walter Reid (USA)
• José Sarukhàn (Mexico)
• Bob Scholes (South Africa)
• Anne Whyte (Canada)