Indicators for the 'health' of the Solent
INTRODUCTION
The Solent Forum has developed a set of indicators to be used to monitor the sustainable development of our coastal zone. These are available via our indicator portal. The aim of the project was to establish a robust set of environmental, social and economic indicators, which can be widely understood by the public, as a basis for monitoring of the future "health" of the Solent. The indicators were selected in 2004, the data is updated regularly and the indicators reviewed by the Solent Forum Steering Group every three years.
It must be noted that although these indicators help to focus attention on key issues and highlight significant trends which are occurring in the Solent they do not give the full story as they represent a simplification of the real life situation. Indicators are only one tool for evaluation and scientific and policy-related interpretation is required for them to acquire their full value.
INDICATORS DEVELOPED FOR THE SOLENT: WORK TO DATE
2000: The first part of the project was the development of the first edition of the State of the Solent report in 2000. This report provided a snapshot of the Solent in the new millennium an also identified datasets which were collected in the area.
2004: The set of coastal sustainability indicators for the Solent were selected and agreed by the Solent Forum membership. The full indicator report is available as a working document as a pdf file, for a hard copy contact the Solent Forum office.
The second edition of the State of the Solent report was produced in 2004 and included the set of coastal sustainability indicators. This report can be ordered from the Solent Forum Office for £10 per copy. ISBN: 1859757359.
2005: The Solent Forum ran a workshop on behalf of the EU Working Group on Indicators and Data the purpose of which was to:
- demonstrate the work currently underway in calculating Sustainable Development (SD) indicators;
- involve delegates in assessing how far ICZM is being implemented in the UK; and
- demonstrate how agencies, authorities and coastal partnerships can join the rapidly growing network of indicator practitioners who are, at last, contributing some much-needed rigour to formulating and implementing coastal and marine policy.
Presentations included the following, copies of these presentations are available from the Solent Forum Office.
- The EU ICZM Recommendation, the EU ICZM Expert Group and the Working Group on Indicators and Data (WG-ID) - Clive Gilbert, SAIL and EU Working Group on Indicators and Data
- UK response to the EU ICZM Recommendation - Karen Morgan, Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Quality of Life Indicators for the South East Region - Nikki Nicholson, South East England Regional Assembly
- Development of the State of the Solent report - Gemma Conway, Solent Forum
2006: A paper was produced on the work which had been done to date by the Solent Forum on coastal sustainability indicators. This is to be published in Marine Policy in a special Solent Edition.
2007: The Solent set of coastal sustainability indicators will be reviewed to ensure they are still nested, fit for purpose and relevant. This work is due to be completed in November 2007.
OTHER NATIONAL, REGIONAL AND LOCAL INDICATOR SETS
- Environment in your pocket: This section of the Defra website provides summary statistics on the environment in the United Kingdom. Statistics are presented on a number of Topics in the form of several Key Facts of key information linking to pages with detailed information and extensive links to other web sites.
- State of the Environment: The Environment Agency's national report on the state of the environment. This latest report is an overview of the state of the environment in England and Wales. It examines what the environment is like now and how it has changed over the last five years. It highlights what the EA, and others still need to do to protect and improve the environment.
