Using the Biodiversity Intactness Index in policy

Biodiversity indicators like the Natural History Museum's Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) are important tools for summarising and communicating complex biodiversity data, allowing for informed decision-making.

The BII can be used to:

• understand the biodiversity status of a local area or region
• track biodiversity trends around the world
• compare biodiversity intactness status and trends in a way that is fair to all countries
• track progress towards local and global biodiversity targets
• test the likely impact of specific policies aimed at increasing biodiversity
• explore likely biodiversity change under a range of future scenarios

The Biodiversity Intactness Index and the Convention on Biological Diversity

The BII is recognised as a ‘component’ indicator within the United Nations Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) draft monitoring framework. Once adopted, this framework will be used by countries to monitor and report their progress towards global biodiversity targets.

This recognition shows that the BII is an effective indicator for monitoring how well natural ecosystems are maintained, enhanced, or restored at the national level and for tracking regional and global progress.

The BII is also a ‘core’ indicator for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), mandating its use in all relevant assessments.

The BII can provide a clear and easily interpretable estimate of biodiversity health on land. This feature makes it a practical tool for policymakers, enabling them to make informed decisions on biodiversity protection and restoration.

Significantly, the BII can also predict how the biodiversity in a given area might change under different future scenarios. This predictive capability makes the BII particularly useful to policymakers because it allows them to look forward and anticipate the likely consequences of a particular policy or management decision.

Using the Biodiversity Intactness Index to improve corporate reporting on nature

The BII is featured in the tools catalogue of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) framework. This means that it is recognised as a key tool for helping organisations to map their impacts and dependencies on nature.

Backed by the UK government, among others, the TNFD provides decision-makers in business and capital markets with better-quality information through corporate reporting on nature. It supports the UN target for businesses to assess, disclose and reduce biodiversity impacts.

The Natural History Museum is delighted to become a TNFD adopter. By studying biodiversity on our own site, we hope to demonstrate how the BII can be used to disclose an organisation’s impacts and dependencies on nature.

Using the Biodiversity Intactness Index in a planetary boundary framework

The planetary boundary framework aims to describe a set of nine boundaries within which humanity can continue to thrive. Only if we stay within these boundaries are we likely to avoid the major shocks to our lives that will occur due to the planetary emergency. 

The BII has previously been included within the planetary boundaries framework as a measure of biosphere integrity. While the BII is no longer explicitly referenced, ecosystem function and integrity—a core focus of the BII—remains at the heart of the framework. The framework provides a helpful starting point for policymakers thinking about halting and reversing biodiversity loss by distinguishing the two major variables that need to be tackled: species extinction risk and ecosystem function and integrity. The latter of these can be calculated using the BII.

UK Parliamentarians citing the Biodiversity Intactness Index

Alex Sobel MP

Said during the House of Commons debate on the World Species Congress on 14 May 2024

“There needs to be a formal mechanism to assess performance against goals and planned action. In the UK, we have one of the world-leading indexes – the Natural History Museum’s biodiversity intactness index – although it is not the only one.”

And said during the House of Commons debate on legal protection for hedgerows on 24 January 2024

“When I attended the convention on biological diversity – the UN biodiversity conference – at COP15, Governments agreed a new set of goals for nature over this decade. Unfortunately, the UK is one of the most severely nature-depleted countries worldwide, and we have heard successive Government Ministers admit that that is the case. The Natural History Museum’s biodiversity intactness index, probably the best indicator of global biodiversity, has revealed that the world has crashed through the “safe limit for humanity” for biodiversity loss … not a record we should be proud of.”

Hilary Benn MP 

Mentioned in the Commons debate on 9 November 2022 on Huntington’s disease.

“The Government are not acting to protect nature as they should. The Natural History Museum has named the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and current Government policy will do nothing to improve our standing.”

Jeremy Hunt MP 

As a part of his Green Spaces campaign, Jeremy referenced the BII data in the Bordon Herald on 14 October 2022.

“…we get a score [at] the bottom of the G7 and in the lowest decile internationally, principally because we were one of the first countries to industrialise.”

Ruth Jones MP

Mentioned in the Commons debate on 14 July 2022 around protecting and restoring nature at COP15 and beyond. 

“The United Kingdom has been among the most nature-depleted countries for decades. The Natural History Museum’s biodiversity intactness index revealed that the world has crashed through the ‘safe limit for humanity’ level of (sic) for biodiversity loss. […] In practice, it means that even some of our most iconic and much-loved animals are being added to the growing list of endangered species.”

Lord Krebs, Zoologist and Member of the House of Lords

Said during the debate on the Environment Bill on 10 June 2021

“The UK is one of the most depleted countries in the world in terms of biodiversity. The Natural History Museum has calculated an index of biodiversity intactness. Using this measure of the health of our natural environment … we are bottom of the G7 countries. In the past ten years, 41% of our bird species have decreased, and 15% of our wildlife is threatened with extinction.”

“The dreadful state of our nature is at least in part a result of living in a densely populated country in which nearly three-quarters of our land is used for farming or the built environment. We have simply squeezed nature out of its home.”