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Experts reveal ongoing degradation of ecosystems

GreenFacts facilitates access to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Brussels, 30 March 2005: Many ecosystem services that support life on Earth – such as freshwater, fisheries, and the regulation of natural hazards and pests – are being degraded or used unsustainably. This is revealed today by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), an extensive scientific report prepared by 1,300 experts from 95 countries.

How can ecosystem degradation affect human well-being today and in the future? What actions are needed to limit harmful consequences? Answers to such important questions on ecosystem change are available online on www.greenfacts.org/ecosystems/, as a summary of the General Synthesis Report of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) presented in GreenFacts’ reader-friendly Three-Level structure of increasing detail.

"Only by understanding the environment and how it works, can we make the necessary decisions to protect it," said Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations in a message launching the MA reports. "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is an unprecedented contribution to our global mission for development, sustainability and peace."

"Through our summary, we provide a clear and easy access to this complex scientific report." says Jacques de Selliers, General Manager of GreenFacts, "We are pleased to contribute to a wider understanding of this very important issue." The GreenFacts summary can be accessed by clicking on the questions below:

1. How have ecosystems changed?
2. How have ecosystem services and their uses changed?
3. How have ecosystem changes affected human well-being and poverty alleviation?
4. What are the most critical factors causing ecosystem changes?
5. How might ecosystems and their services change in the future under various plausible scenarios?
6. Why are both global and sub-global assessments of ecosystem change useful?
7. How do ecosystems change over time?
8. What options exist to manage ecosystems sustainably?
9. What are the most important uncertainties hindering decision-making concerning ecosystems?
10. Conclusion: main findings.

GreenFacts asbl is an independent non-advocacy non-profit organization based in Brussels. It publishes unbiased, faithful on-line summaries of authoritative scientific consensus documents on environment and health issues, such as: aspartame, arsenic, boron, climate change, dioxins, endocrine disruptors, mercury, power lines, water disinfectants posted on www.greenfacts.org

Q&As on GreenFacts and the Millennium Assessment

Contact: GreenFacts,
Phone: +32 (0)2 211 34 88 - Mobile: +32 (0)498 90 59 54

GreenFacts summaries of the MA General Synthesis Report: www.greenfacts.org/ecosystems/
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Homepage: www.millenniumassessment.org