In preparation for the annual update to the UK Biodiversity Indicators, due to be published on Tuesday 2 December, we have a blog post from Anna Robinson, Biodiversity Adviser, who explores the value and history of the compendium.
The importance of evidence
In the UK and around the world it’s becoming increasingly clear that we are in a nature crisis. But how do we really know that – asides from the more mature among us reminiscing that ‘there were a lot more butterflies and flowers in the countryside when I was young...’? As scientists, at JNCC we are interested in evidence, and we develop and use ‘indicators’ as a repeatable measure to demonstrate what’s happening to our natural environment.
Usefully, the UK has a rich history of recording wildlife, from Victorian ladies indulging in crafts such as botanical art and seaweed pressing, to the development of hundreds of natural history societies and recording schemes. Year on year, thousands of volunteers give their time to collect data which are so critical to our knowledge of UK biodiversity. In recent years enthusiasts have made use of apps and other new technology to guide where to look, to help identify species and to help to more easily record wildlife sightings. The creation of indicators is a way to make the most of the data we collect, and to use it to give a snapshot of the current status of biodiversity in the UK and how it’s changing.
JNCC, in collaboration with Defra, first published the annually updated UK Biodiversity Indicators (UKBIs) in 2007, presented as a A6 sized booklet, aptly named ‘Biodiversity Indicators in Your Pocket’. The mini booklets were distributed to libraries around the country to share the message of what’s happening to our environment. Since those less-digital days, awareness of biodiversity concerns has increased, although unfortunately the published trends for biodiversity have largely continued to decline – albeit with a few success stories bucking the trend.
International biodiversity commitments
International agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) have been important in galvanising countries to take action to protect and restore nature. Although we have not yet halted the biodiversity crisis, there has been some progress, and it’s likely that biodiversity trends would be even worse without such initiatives.
The UK Biodiversity Indicators were previously used to report progress on the Aichi Targets in the UK’s 6th national report to the CBD in 2019. Since then, the indicator suite has been updated to reflect more recent commitments. 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 'headline indicators' to enable all countries to provide comparative reports of progress. Over the last year JNCC has been working with Defra to revise some of our existing indicators and to develop new ones to meet these new requirements. The results of these new indicators will be available for the first time on the JNCC website as part of the UKBI suite update in December 2025.
Bringing it all together
The revised set of UKBIs is informed by recommendations from a recent review, and international guidance on indicator methods for GBF reporting. It was a sizable project, involving staff from many disciplines across JNCC including statistics, economics, ecology and communications. It included input from Defra and the country nature conservation bodies, alongside the Biodiversity Indicators Steering Group, which also includes experts from Devolved Governments and environmental non-governmental organisations.
The indicators draw on a wide variety of data, provided by government, research bodies, and the voluntary sector. Some indicators focus on the state of biodiversity or related issues, some look at pressures, and some consider the benefits we get from the environment. They cover a wide range of topics beyond basic species trends, for example an indicator to track the number of companies that disclose biodiversity information, and an indicator to show people’s access to blue/green space.
Whilst the core methods for the new ‘headline indicators’ are agreed internationally, it is not always straightforward to use this to produce an indicator that makes best use of the data available in the UK and that is also relevant to our domestic requirements. It is often a case of combining pragmatism with prioritisation of the aspects that are particularly important to us in the UK. The indicators are generally presented at UK level but include country level breakdowns where possible. This enables the four countries of the UK to use them for their domestic reporting requirements.
The official stamp of statistics approval
The UK Biodiversity Indicator suite has been designated as an 'Accredited Official Statistics' compendium (previously referred to as ‘National Statistics’) following independent review by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2012. This demonstrated that their development and production is underpinned by the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics. Whilst not all the individual indicators have undergone formal accreditation, they are all designated as Official Statistics and have undergone a robust quality assurance process. A number of the new indicators will initially be labelled as ‘Official Statistics in development’ and for these, we would particularly welcome feedback on how they could be improved or more usefully presented. Please email biodiversity@defra.gov.uk to share your thoughts.
Thank you to many people who have contributed to these indicators, including the many thousands of volunteers who record wildlife sightings – some of the essential raw data we rely on.
Don’t forget to look out for the UKBI latest results, coming soon on Tuesday 2 December 2025!
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