Project description
A European framework to monitor biodiversity
Biodiversity loss has severe impacts on ecosystem services and humans. Several EU policies and initiatives are oriented towards an objective, integrated and permanently updated biodiversity and ecosystem service data. However, biodiversity observation is restricted by a sequence of gaps. The EU-funded EuropaBON project will design a new structure for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services. It will model essential variables to integrate different reporting streams, data sources and monitoring strategies. Project partners will deliver solid knowledge about the dimensions of biodiversity change across space and time to support decision-making. Based on stakeholders’ engagement and knowledge exchange, EuropaBON will assess existing monitoring efforts, identify user and policy needs, and investigate the feasibility of a European coordination centre of monitoring operations.
Objective
Observations are key to understand the drivers of biodiversity loss, and the impacts on ecosystem services and ultimately on people. Many EU policies and initiatives demand unbiased, integrated and regularly updated biodiversity and ecosystem service data. However, efforts to monitor biodiversity are spatially and temporally fragmented, taxonomically biased, and lack integration in Europe. EuropaBON aims to bridge this gap by designing an EU-wide framework for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services. EuropaBON harnesses the power of modelling essential variables to integrate different reporting streams, data sources, and monitoring schemes. These essential variables provide consistent knowledge about multiple dimensions of biodiversity change across space and time. They can then be analyzed and synthesized to support decision-making at different spatial scales, from the sub-national to the European scale, through the production of indicators and scenarios. To develop essential biodiversity and ecosystem variables workflows that are policy relevant, EuropaBON is built around stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange (WP2). EuropaBON will work with stakeholders to identify user and policy needs for biodiversity monitoring and investigate the feasibility of setting up a center to coordinate monitoring activities across Europe (WP2). Together with stakeholders, EuropaBON will assess current monitoring efforts to identify gaps, data and workflow bottlenecks, and analyse cost-effectiveness of different schemes (WP3). This will be used to co-design improved monitoring schemes using novel technologies to become more representative temporally, spatially and taxonomically, delivering multiple benefits to users and society (WP4). Finally, EuropaBON will demonstrate in a set of showcases how workflows tailored to the Birds Directive, Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, Climate and Restoration Policy, and the Bioeconomy Strategy, can be implemented (WP5).
Fields of science
Not validated
Not validated
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CSA - Coordination and support actionCoordinator
6108 Halle
Germany