SoNaRR 2025: Drivers of environmental change

Drivers of change are natural or human-induced factors that cause changes to natural resources and ecosystems. They can either be direct, causing physical change that can be measured, or indirect which are less measurable in terms of causality. The sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR) requires a better understanding of these drivers to fully appreciate the root causes of unsustainable management.

The evidence gathered and analysed within SoNaRR 2025 regarding the key drivers of environmental change and their associated pressures helps us to focus on the main pressures that affect the stocks of natural resources, the resilience of the ecosystems across Wales and the benefits, or services, that the ecosystems provide.

In SoNaRR 2025 we continue to use the five widely accepted direct drivers of change: Climate change; Direct exploitation; Invasive non-native species, pests and diseases; Land and sea use management and change; and Pollution.

Indirect drivers include demographic, economic, socio-political, cultural and behavioural, and technological changes. While a societal disconnect from nature is a factor, it is fundamentally reinforced by prevailing economic models and production systems that externalise environmental costs. This disconnect obscures our dependency on natural processes, driving unsustainable consumption patterns that accelerate biodiversity loss, climate change and pollution.

Direct drivers of environmental change

Follow the links below to find out more about the direct drivers of environmental change in Wales. The pressures these direct drivers exert on our ecosystems and natural resources are described in detail within each ecosystem and natural resource assessment.

• Climate change
• Direct exploitation
• Invasive Non-Native Species, pests and diseases
• Land and sea use change
• Pollution
  
  

Indirect drivers of environmental change

Indirect drivers are considered throughout SoNaRR 2025, particularly within the Aim 3 assessment and Aim 4 assessment.

You can find out more about Direct and Indirect drivers of change at a global scale in the Thematic Assessment Report on the Interlinkages among Biodiversity, Water, Food and Health | IPBES secretariat

NatureScot have published a useful summary: Understanding the Indirect Drivers of Biodiversity Loss in Scotland - A Summary | NatureScot