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Sub-Global Assessments and Working Group

Global environmental change is increasingly understood to have causes and effects that span multiple scales, from the local to the global. Accurate and informed assessments of what is taking place, and what to reasonably expect in the future, are therefore critical for decision-makers. Yet, until recently, international scientific assessments typically focused more on global phenomena than on processes at subglobal levels, or on interactions across scales. The MA was conducted as a “multiscale” assessment, consisting of interlinked assessments undertaken at local, watershed, national, regional and global scales.

Sub-Global Assessments

The MA sub-global assessments were designed to meet needs of decision-makers at the scale at which they are undertaken, strengthen the global findings with on-the-ground reality, and strengthen the local findings with global perspectives, data, and models. There are 18 MA-approved sub-global assessments, and an additional fifteen with an associated status. Assessments at sub-global scales are needed because ecosystems are highly differentiated in space and time, and because sound management requires careful local planning and action. Local assessments alone are insufficient, however, because some processes are global, and because local goods, services, matter, and energy are often transferred across regions. The sub-global assessments will directly meet the needs of decision-makers at the scale at which they are undertaken, strengthen the global findings with on-the-ground reality, and strengthen the local findings with global perspectives, data, and models.

 Approved Assessments

 Associated Assessments

Assessment report outline

Contents, Foreword, Preface [pdf, 1212 KB]

01. MA Conceptual Framework [pdf, 431 KB]

02. Overview [pdf, 196 KB]

03. Ecosystem Services and Human Well-being [pdf, 258 KB]

04. Multi-Scale Approach [pdf, 728 KB]

05. Multiple Knowledge Systems [pdf, 437 KB]

06. Assessment Process [pdf, 261 KB]

07. Drivers of Ecosystem Change [pdf, 1327 KB]

08. Condition and Trends [pdf, 1181 KB]

09. Responses [pdf, 472 KB]

10. Scenarios [pdf, 2310 KB]

11. Community Assessments [pdf, 451 KB]

12. Reflections and Lessons Learned [pdf, 158 KB]

Appendices [pdf, 7571 KB]

Sub-Global Working Group

The MA Sub-Global Working Group, comprised of all the MA sub-global assessments, produced a sub-global assessment. This report is both a synthesis of the findings of the various sub-global assessments and a resource on the lessons learned through the process on multiscale assessment methodologies, cross-scale interactions, and the incorporation of traditional and local knowledge into a scientific assessment process.

Co-Chairs

  • Cristian Samper
  • Doris Capistrano

Technical Support

  • Ciara Raudsepp-Hearne
    WorldFish Center
    Penang, Malaysia
  • Marcus Lee
    WorldFish Center
    Penang, Malaysia
© 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment