The causes, pace, and magnitude of deforestation and forest degradation have changed over time. The way that different deforestation drivers are connected and the effects they have on forest ecosystems vary across regions. While progress has been made in halting forest loss and degradation, both continue at alarming rates. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of deforestation, connecting drivers and responses on a global scale.

In 2005, The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment provided the first global assessment of the world’s ecosystems and ecosystem services. It concluded that recent trends in ecosystem change threatened human well-being due to declining ecosystem services, a bleak prophecy which has galvanized conservation organizations, ecologists, and economists to work towards rigorous valuations of ecosystem services at a spatial scale and with a resolution that can inform public policy. This book provides an intensive and technical analysis of ecosystem services to date. A key idea which guides the science is that the modelling and valuation approaches being developed should use data which are readily available around the world. In addition, the book documents a toolbox of ecosystem service mapping, modelling, and valuation models that both The Nature Conservancy and the World Wide Fund for Nature are beginning to apply around the world as they transform conservation from a biodiversity-only to a people and ecosystem services agenda. The book addresses land, freshwater, and marine systems at a variety of spatial scales, and includes discussion of how to treat both climate change and cultural values when examining tradeoffs among ecosystem services.

WWF contributors include: Nasser Olwero, Robin Naidoo, Emily McKenzie, Eric Wikramanayake, and Taylor Ricketts

WWF works with partners and local communities in Iowa’s Cedar River Valley to pilot and develop new scientific approaches to inform decisions for sourcing corn more sustainably. Learn how these tools will enable public and private supply chain actors to evaluate the potential range of environmental benefits and costs of achieving sustainability goals.

Although metrics such as water use efficiency ratios are commonly employed within businesses to measurably demonstrate progress, assessing the benefits of water projects beyond a company’s four walls is much more difficult. To fill the gap, some companies are developing “replenish” methodologies to capture how quantitative or qualitative water benefits can be calculated for a given water-related community activity or conservation project.