UNEP-WCMC, funded by Swedbio, is currently working with partners to improve the way in which ecosystem services are measured, monitored and assessed at different scales. To achieve this we are

1. Exploring how ecosystem services can be measured;
2. Testing measurement and assessment methods at different scales;
3. Compiling lessons with partners, experts and users; and
4. Disseminating lessons to researchers, practitioners and decision-makers

UNEP-WCMC In collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Commission for Ecosystem Management (IUCN -CEM) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) organised and hosted an international workshop on Ecosystem Service Indicators from September 22nd - 23rd 2009. Funded by the Swedish International Biodiversity Programme (SwedBio), the workshop brought together 16 experts from all over the world in the fields of indicators and ecosystem services. The aim of the workshop was to identify a suite of ecosystem service indicators of policy relevance, and the datasets available/necessary to underpin them, that could be applied within assessments and monitoring at different scales.

Next steps agreed by participants during the workshop included:

• Further work on refining the ecosystem service indicators matrix used during the workshop, and evaluating its usefulness,
• Further work on identifying a short, practical list of indicators which are measurable and policy-relevant, including the scale at which they can operate,
• Additional work on identifying the datasets (existing and emerging) for each of the indicators,
• Practically test some indicators (i.e. “low hanging fruit”) at regional, national or local levels to determine their strengths and weaknesses.