The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was carried out between 2001 and 2005 to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and to establish the basis for actions needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of ecosystems and their contributions to human well-being. The MA was originally conceived as a global scientific assessment that would be modeled on two intergovernmental processes that have contributed significantly to policy development in relation to the problems of climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Ozone Assessment