Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa
There is an increasing need for monitoring schemes that help understand the evolution of the global biodiversity crisis and propose solutions for the future. Indicators, including temporal baselines, are crucial to measure the change in biodiversity over time, to evaluate progress towards its conser...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2019-01-01
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| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf495 |
| _version_ | 1797748074415652864 |
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| author | Anne-Julie Rochette Jean Didier T Akpona Hugues Adeloui Akpona Gaston S Akouehou Blanchard Mayundo Kwezi Chabi A M S Djagoun Bernadette Habonimana Rodrigue Idohou Ingride S Legba Benoît Nzigidahera Augustin Orou Matilo Mohammed Sghir Taleb Benjamin Toirambe Bamoninga Sarah Ivory Luc Janssens de Bisthoven Maarten P M Vanhove |
| author_facet | Anne-Julie Rochette Jean Didier T Akpona Hugues Adeloui Akpona Gaston S Akouehou Blanchard Mayundo Kwezi Chabi A M S Djagoun Bernadette Habonimana Rodrigue Idohou Ingride S Legba Benoît Nzigidahera Augustin Orou Matilo Mohammed Sghir Taleb Benjamin Toirambe Bamoninga Sarah Ivory Luc Janssens de Bisthoven Maarten P M Vanhove |
| author_sort | Anne-Julie Rochette |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is an increasing need for monitoring schemes that help understand the evolution of the global biodiversity crisis and propose solutions for the future. Indicators, including temporal baselines, are crucial to measure the change in biodiversity over time, to evaluate progress towards its conservation and sustainable use and to set conservation priorities. They help design and monitor national and regional policies on biodiversity; they also feed into national reporting on international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. We analyse the methodological approach of five small African projects resulting from a call to promote indicator development, improve monitoring capacity and strengthen the science-policy interface in the field of biodiversity. We compared their approach to existing guidance provided by the international community, specifically the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership. To this end, we assess whether internationally recommended steps are effectively applied to national/local biodiversity monitoring in selected developing countries. We also present lessons learnt from workshop interactions between partners involved in these projects. Through our pilot projects we identified data availability and data accessibility, together with the involvement of stakeholders, as critical steps in indicator development. Moreover, there is a need for a better awareness and a wider application of the indicator concept itself. Hence, training of key actors both in the policy and science spheres is needed to operationalize indicators and ensure their continuity and sustainability. We hope that these case studies and lessons learnt can stimulate and support countries in the Global South to formulate policy-relevant biodiversity indicators. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:59:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-938f0056656c484d957016887ad9d7ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:59:45Z |
| publishDate | 2019-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-938f0056656c484d957016887ad9d7ee2023-08-09T14:41:19ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262019-01-0114303500210.1088/1748-9326/aaf495Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in AfricaAnne-Julie Rochette0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6874-2698Jean Didier T Akpona1Hugues Adeloui Akpona2Gaston S Akouehou3Blanchard Mayundo Kwezi4Chabi A M S Djagoun5Bernadette Habonimana6Rodrigue Idohou7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2641-6832Ingride S Legba8Benoît Nzigidahera9Augustin Orou Matilo10Mohammed Sghir Taleb11Benjamin Toirambe Bamoninga12Sarah Ivory13Luc Janssens de Bisthoven14https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9547-1563Maarten P M Vanhove15https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3100-7566Capacities for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautierstraat 29, B-1000, Brussels, BelgiumLaboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi , 04 BP 1525, Cotonou, BeninLaboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi , 01BP 526, Cotonou, Benin; Direction Générale des Eaux forêts et Chasse, BP 393 Cotonou, BeninCentre d’études, de Recherches et de Formation Forestières, 06 BP 707 PK 3, 5 Cotonou, BeninLaboratoire de Botanique systématique et d’Écologie végétale, Département de Biologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Kinshasa , B. P. 190 Kinshasa/XI, Congo (Democratic Republic)Laboratoire d’Ecologie Appliquée, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi , 01BP 526, Cotonou, BeninFaculté d’Agronomie et de Bio-Ingénierie, Université du Burundi , B. P. 2940 Bujumbura, BurundiLaboratoire de Biomathématiques et d’Estimations Forestières, Faculté des Sciences Agronomiques, Université d’Abomey-Calavi , 04 BP 1525, Cotonou, BeninCentre d’études, de Recherches et de Formation Forestières, 06 BP 707 PK 3, 5 Cotonou, BeninOffice Burundais pour la Protection de l’Environnement (OBPE), Avenue de l’Imprimerie 12 Jabe, B. P. 2757 Bujumbura, BurundiCentre d’études, de Recherches et de Formation Forestières, 06 BP 707 PK 3, 5 Cotonou, BeninDépartement de Botanique et Ecologie Végétale, Institut Scientifique, Université Mohammed V , Avenue Ibn Batouta, B. P 703, 10106 Rabat, MoroccoDirection de Développement Durable, Ministère de l’Environnement et Développement Durable, Congo (Democratic Republic)UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, United KingdomCapacities for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautierstraat 29, B-1000, Brussels, BelgiumCapacities for Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, Operational Directorate Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautierstraat 29, B-1000, Brussels, Belgium; Hasselt University , Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Agoralaan Gebouw D, B-3590, Diepenbeek, Belgium; Laboratory of Biodiversity and Evolutionary Genomics, Department of Biology, University of Leuven , Ch. Deberiotstraat 32, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University , Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czechia; Zoology Unit, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki , PO Box 17, Helsinki, FI-00014, FinlandThere is an increasing need for monitoring schemes that help understand the evolution of the global biodiversity crisis and propose solutions for the future. Indicators, including temporal baselines, are crucial to measure the change in biodiversity over time, to evaluate progress towards its conservation and sustainable use and to set conservation priorities. They help design and monitor national and regional policies on biodiversity; they also feed into national reporting on international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. We analyse the methodological approach of five small African projects resulting from a call to promote indicator development, improve monitoring capacity and strengthen the science-policy interface in the field of biodiversity. We compared their approach to existing guidance provided by the international community, specifically the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership. To this end, we assess whether internationally recommended steps are effectively applied to national/local biodiversity monitoring in selected developing countries. We also present lessons learnt from workshop interactions between partners involved in these projects. Through our pilot projects we identified data availability and data accessibility, together with the involvement of stakeholders, as critical steps in indicator development. Moreover, there is a need for a better awareness and a wider application of the indicator concept itself. Hence, training of key actors both in the policy and science spheres is needed to operationalize indicators and ensure their continuity and sustainability. We hope that these case studies and lessons learnt can stimulate and support countries in the Global South to formulate policy-relevant biodiversity indicators.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf495science-policy interfacemonitoringreportingverificationcapacity buildingbiodiversity indicators |
| spellingShingle | Anne-Julie Rochette Jean Didier T Akpona Hugues Adeloui Akpona Gaston S Akouehou Blanchard Mayundo Kwezi Chabi A M S Djagoun Bernadette Habonimana Rodrigue Idohou Ingride S Legba Benoît Nzigidahera Augustin Orou Matilo Mohammed Sghir Taleb Benjamin Toirambe Bamoninga Sarah Ivory Luc Janssens de Bisthoven Maarten P M Vanhove Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa Environmental Research Letters science-policy interface monitoring reporting verification capacity building biodiversity indicators |
| title | Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa |
| title_full | Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa |
| title_fullStr | Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa |
| title_short | Developing policy-relevant biodiversity indicators: lessons learnt from case studies in Africa |
| title_sort | developing policy relevant biodiversity indicators lessons learnt from case studies in africa |
| topic | science-policy interface monitoring reporting verification capacity building biodiversity indicators |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aaf495 |
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