19 July 2011: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released the fourth issue in its Policy Series on Ecosystem Management, titled “Food and Ecological Security: Identifying Synergy and Trade-Offs.”

The series seeks to facilitate dialogue on policy issues related to ecosystem management. The latest brief discusses: the impacts of accelerated food production on ecosystems and ecosystem services; trends in ecosystem services, especially from cultivated ecosystems; how the “twin objectives” of food and ecological security can be aligned; and related policy implications. The brief also stresses that policies and management approaches aiming to minimize the effects of ecosystem service trade-offs should be based on a thorough understanding of such trade-offs.

The Policy Series is accompanied by an online blog where readers can post comments, ask questions, and suggest topics for future issues in the series. [Publication: Food and Ecological Security: Identifying Synergy and Trade-Offs]