Human Dependency on Nature
Geographical coverage
| Geographical scale of the assessment | Global |
|---|---|
| Country or countries covered | |
| Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name |
This assessment, led by IUCN, is currently under development |
Geographical scale of the assessment
Global
Country or countries covered
Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name
This assessment, led by IUCN, is currently under development
Conceptual framework, methodology and scope
Assessment objectives
Wild natural resources contribute more to livelihoods in rural and coastal communities than historically recognized. The primary goal of the IUCN Human Dependency on Nature framework is to provide policy makers and programme managers from the development, environment and other sectors with an independent, robust and differentiated assessment of the degree to which natural ecosystems and wild resources contribute to the material needs of rural and coastal communities as a proportion of total household income. In doing so it seeks to improve the sustainable management of natural resources to better meet local needs, sharpen the targeting of national development and conservation policies and avoid unintended impacts of policies and programmes on rural and coastal livelihoods.
Mandate for the assessment
This is one of the six priority IUCN Knowledge Products as identified in the 2013-2016 IUCN Programme which was adopted by IUCN members in the 2012 World Conservation Congress, and is available here:
Conceptual framework and/or methodology used for the assessment
Other (please specify)
URL or copy of conceptual framework developed or adapted
The IUCN Index of Human Dependency on Nature will be developed through a coalition of partners that bring together household economic survey expertise, economic analytical skills and knowledge of the use and contribution of natural ecosystems and wild resources. Existing datasets will be interrogated and supplemented with additional surveys that explicitly document the contribution to rural and coastal livelihoods from natural resources. IUCN has already worked with several partners and members to develop survey methodologies to capture such information that tends to be overlooked in standard household surveys. These approaches will be refined in such a way as to complement mainstream household economic datasets and distributed to IUCN members and partners. IUCN will also supplement this information with relevant data from the Red List of Threatened Species which details how individual species are used.
System(s) assessed
- Marine
- Coastal
- Island
- Inland water
- Forest and woodland
- Cultivated/Agricultural land
- Grassland
- Mountain
- Dryland
- Polar
- Urban
Species groups assessed
Ecosystem services/functions assessed
Provisioning
Regulating
Supporting Services/Functions
Cultural Services
Scope of assessment includes
Drivers of change in systems and services
No
Impacts of change in services on human well-being
No
Options for responding/interventions to the trends observed
No
Explicit consideration of the role of biodiversity in the systems and services covered by the assessment
No
Timing of the assessment
Year assessment started
Year assessment finished
If ongoing, year assessment is anticipated to finish
Periodicity of assessment
Assessment outputs
Website(s)
Report(s)
Communication materials (e.g. brochure, presentations, posters, audio-visual media)
Journal publications
Training materials
Other documents/outputs
Tools and processes
Tools and approaches used in the assessment
- Indicators
- Economic valuation
- Social (non-monetary) valuation
Process used for stakeholder engagement in the assessment process and which component
Key stakeholder groups engaged
The number of people directly involved in the assessment process
Incorporation of scientific and other types of knowledge
- Resource experts (e.g. foresters etc)
- Traditional/local knowledge
Supporting documentation for specific approaches, methodology or criteria developed and/or used to integrate knowledge systems into the assessment
Assessment reports peer reviewed
No
Data
Accessibility of data used in assessment
Policy impact
Impacts the assessment has had on policy and/or decision making, as evidenced through policy references and actions
Independent or other review on policy impact of the assessment
No
