eprintid: 10205132
rev_number: 6
eprint_status: archive
userid: 699
dir: disk0/10/20/51/32
datestamp: 2025-02-21 13:23:42
lastmod: 2025-02-21 13:23:42
status_changed: 2025-02-21 13:23:42
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
sword_depositor: 699
creators_name: Mcrae, Louise
creators_name: Cornford, Richard
creators_name: Marconi, Valentina
creators_name: Puleston, Hannah
creators_name: Ledger, Sophie EH
creators_name: Deinet, Stefanie
creators_name: Oppenheimer, Philippa
creators_name: Hoffmann, Mike
creators_name: Freeman, Robin
title: The utility of the Living Planet Index as a policy tool and for measuring nature recovery
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C08
divisions: D09
divisions: F99
keywords: Living Planet Index, biodiversity indicators, Convention on Biological Diversity, biodiversity policy, biodiversity recovery
note: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original
author and source are credited.
abstract: The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a leading global biodiversity indicator based on vertebrate population time series. Since it was first developed over 25 years ago, the LPI has been widely used to indicate trends in biodiversity globally, primarily reported every two years in the Living Planet Report. Based on relative abundance, a sensitive metric of biodiversity change, the LPI has also been applied as a tool for informing policy and used in assessments for several multilateral conventions and agreements, including the Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 Biodiversity Target and Aichi targets. Here, we outline all current and some potential uses of the LPI as a policy tool and explore the use of the LPI in policy documents to assess the reach of the LPI geographically and over time. We present limitations to the use of this indicator in policy, primarily relating to the development of the index at the national level, and suggest clear pathways to broaden the utility of the LPI and the underlying database for temporal and spatial predictions of biodiversity change. We also provide evidence that the LPI can detect recoveries in biodiversity and suggest its suitability for measuring progress towards the goal of biodiversity recovery by 2050. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Bending the curve towards nature recovery: building on Georgina Mace's legacy for a biodiverse future’.
date: 2025-01-09
date_type: published
publisher: ROYAL SOC
official_url: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0207
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 2352675
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0207
medium: Print-Electronic
lyricists_name: Ledger, Sophie Emily Haddrell
lyricists_name: McRae, Louise
lyricists_name: Deinet, Stefanie
lyricists_name: Freeman, Robin Mark
lyricists_id: SEHLE43
lyricists_id: LMCRA42
lyricists_id: SDEIN19
lyricists_id: RFREE31
actors_name: McRae, Louise
actors_id: LMCRA42
actors_role: owner
funding_acknowledgements: [Zoological Society of London]
full_text_status: public
publication: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume: 380
number: 1917
article_number: 20230207
pages: 12
event_location: England
issn: 0962-8436
citation:        Mcrae, Louise;    Cornford, Richard;    Marconi, Valentina;    Puleston, Hannah;    Ledger, Sophie EH;    Deinet, Stefanie;    Oppenheimer, Philippa;         ... Freeman, Robin; + view all <#>        Mcrae, Louise;  Cornford, Richard;  Marconi, Valentina;  Puleston, Hannah;  Ledger, Sophie EH;  Deinet, Stefanie;  Oppenheimer, Philippa;  Hoffmann, Mike;  Freeman, Robin;   - view fewer <#>    (2025)    The utility of the Living Planet Index as a policy tool and for measuring nature recovery.                   Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 380  (1917)    , Article 20230207.  10.1098/rstb.2023.0207 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2023.0207>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10205132/1/The%20utility%20of%20the%20Living%20Planet%20Index%20as%20a%20policy%20tool%20and%20for%20measuring%20nature%20recovery.pdf