LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

PLENARY SESSION 3: METHODS FOR BIODIVERSITY AND SOIL QUALITY 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
Figure 2. Remaining share of natural
habitat in and around Kenya
(country marked as white line)
344
Figure 3. Modelled loss of nonendemic
mammals
Figure 4. Modelled loss of endemic
mammals
4. Discussion
In this paper we assessed absolute regional land use impacts (i.e. numbers of species that potentially disappear
regionally due to land use) by upscaling local relative impacts (i.e. the potential fraction of locally
disappeared species). Absolute and regional characterisation factors are better suited to compare land use
impacts across ecosystems and across land use types. In contrast to local relative impacts, the presented regional
absolute characterisation factors reflect differences of land use impacts occurring in species rich or
species poor ecosystems with high or low levels of endemism, or of land use impacts occurring in highly
disturbed or pristine ecosystems. In addition, they directly reflect conservation targets that aim to prevent
regional (occupation and transformation impacts) and global extinction (permanent impacts).
The presented approach used globally available data to allow transferring the approach to other world regions.
However, the accuracy of such global data in the regional context still has to be further assessed. Better
regional land use maps, more region- and taxon-specific habitat suitability scores and better data on restoration
times would improve the credibility of the results. Modelling species extinction at regional and global
scales for use in LCA improves the interpretability of results, but also introduces many uncertainties. The
validity of the matrix-SAR model still has to be further tested, as many important factors driving extinction
risk were not considered here (e.g. heterogeneity within ecoregions, temporal dynamics, connectivity of
habitats).
5. Conclusion
Upscaling local land use impacts to regional impacts provides more environmentally relevant information
to policy makers on the effects of land use on biodiversity. The presented method can potentially help to
better evaluate the environmental impacts of globally traded agricultural goods originating from Kenya or
other world regions. As we use globally available data as a starting point, this method can be applied to other
world regions. However, the robustness and validity of the presented characterisation factors still needs to be
evaluated and tested against more detailed data and techniques in a variety of settings.
6. References
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de Baan, L., Alkemade, R., and Koellner, T., 2012. Land use impacts on biodiversity in LCA: a global approach. Int. J. Life Cycle
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De Schryver, A. M., Goedkoop, M. J., Leuven, R. S. E. W., and Huijbregts, M. A. J., 2010. Uncertainties in the application of the
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ESA, 2009. GlobCover land cover map, v2.3. European Space Agency.