Pilot Review Scheme for Ecosystem Challenge

Living With Environmental Change commissioned the Pilot Reviews to help identify priority policy areas, reflect on the current baseline of evidence and to expose gaps in the knowledge and design of programmes.

The reviews were to:

• outline the existing data and highlight trends and gaps in knowledge
• provide critical appraisal of the quality of the sample of the studies and perhaps produce a draft protocol for a full systematic review. This would provide a useful resource for stakeholders.

These include the assessment of links and feedbacks between the natural environment, ecosystem services and human well-being; how these might continue to develop within environmental limits in the face of major environmental change; and how decision-making and local and national planning can take account of these links and feedbacks to help in the development of new social, environmental and economic opportunities.

Summary of activity

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment Research Council requested applications to conduct pilot reviews to better understand existing data and highlight trends and gaps in our knowledge of managing ecosystems for human well-being and how to protect the natural environment as the environment changes.

The Pilot Review Scheme requested applications for up to £15,000 for each review. The awards were conducted from the period of 2nd March 2009 until the end 30th April 2009. 

The pilot reviews were assessed by the LWEC Partners’ Board and those most relevant were considered for full Systematic Review. There was one full Systematic Review awarded by Defra: ‘Resilience of ecosystems to environmental change’.

Read the reviews here

LWEC Objective B Ecosystems Challenge.