Ecosystems and Human Well-Being

Front Cover
Island Press, 2005 - Nature - 5 pages
Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Scenarios

“Only by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the necessary decisions to protect it. Only by valuing all our precious natural and human resources can we hope to build a sustainable future. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is an unprecedented contribution to our global mission for development, sustainability and peace.” -Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Launched in June 2001 and involving more than 1,300 leading scientists from 95 nations, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) is a ground-breaking study on how humans have altered ecosystems, and how changes in ecosystem services affect human well-being, both now and in the future. Integrating findings at the local, regional, global scales and from alternative intellectual traditions, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment offers the first truly comprehensive picture of the health of the planet.

This five-volume set, comprising four technical volumes and one summary volume, provides an indispensable baseline of information for researchers, scholars, and students, as well as inform public decision-making for decades to come.

Books in the Five-Volume Set Include:

  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Current State and Trends, Volume 1
  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Scenarios, Volume 2
  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Policy Responses, Volume 3
  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Multiscale Assessments, Volume 4
  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Our Human Planet - Summary for Decision Makers, Volume 5

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment’s work is overseen by a 45-member Board of Directors, co-chaired by Robert Watson, Chief Scientist and Senior Advisor for the Environment of the Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Network of the World Bank, and A.H. Zakri, director of the United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies. The Assessment Panel, which oversees the technical work of the MA, includes 13 of the world’s leading social and natural scientists. It is co-chaired by Angela Cropper of the Cropper Foundation and Harold Mooney of Stanford University. Walter Reid is the director of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Other Books from the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment:

  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis Report
  • Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment

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