A research paper about the inclusion of the effects of agricultural production systems on biodiversity into environmental assessments framework has been recently published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The LCA community increasingly understands the importance of assessing endpoint impacts on biodiversity. Methods have already been developed, but mostly without the involvement of the ecological community who has its own goals, approaches and indicators for biodiversity assessment.

The paper argues that a close collaboration between LCA and ecology communities will be key to develop ecologically relevant assessments of biodiversity in LCA. It will ensure that biodiversity is not neglected in decision-making that relies on LCA, but included in a meaningful manner.

Moving towards more comprehensive assessments is essential to unravel potential trade-offs between environmental categories and ensure that management decisions targeting improvements in one category does not result in damages on another categories. LEAP has successfully delivered documents about biodiversity indicators and principle assessment methods applicable to the livestock sector on a global scale.

For more information on LEAP activities on the assessment of livestock impacts on biodiversity click here and here.