Realising the potential of environmental data: a call for systematic review and evidence synthesis in environmental management

The close linkages between human wellbeing and environmental quality are increasingly evident in the literature and are now clearly embedded in the policies of institutions concerned with international development and poverty alleviation. If our planet is to remain suitable for civilised human habitation, even when there are 10 billion of us, then we need to manage its health. At a range of scales, environmental management interventions are required to maintain ecosystem function whilst providing sufficient food, water, fuel, raw material and meeting our needs for clean air, green space and wild nature. Both the necessity and the challenge of achieving effective environmental management are very clear. But how well organised are we to succeed in this task? We certainly need more data to address a multitude of questions concerning the nature of environmental problems and the effectiveness of potential solutions. But we need to do more than just accumulate data, fragment it among a multitude of publications with varied levels of access, and frankly, let much of it disappear into obscurity. It is the purpose of science to push the boundaries of knowledge and challenge accepted wisdom but if science is also to inform decisions that wider society takes then we need synthesis; a kind of stocktaking of data that establishes the current evidence base with a view to predicting outcomes of alternative actions.Of all the interventions that are employed, which ones work? Which ones are worth the money spent on them? Which ones do more harm than good and should cease? At present there is very little synthesis of information to help us with these vital questions. Increasing expenditure on environmental management and the rise in environmental organisations, both governmental and non-governmental have been described by Keene & Pullin [1]. But the structures required to evaluate the effectiveness of environmental management interventions are piecemeal at best. Lack of concerted use