7th Meeting of the UK Biodiversity Indicators Forum
(BIF7)
The seventh UK Biodiversity Indicators Forum (BIF7) was
organised by JNCC, Defra and ZSL, and was held on 5 July 2013 at
the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Regent's Park, London.
The UK Government is updating the national Biodiversity
Indicators to align with the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD) Aichi Targets. This includes the introduction of new
indicators for ecosystem services, business, and awareness.
This workshop was intended to provide quality assurance checks
on the indicator options that have been developed.
The objectives of the meeting were:
To evaluate the appropriateness of the indicator options for
their intended purpose, focussing specifically on the issues
relating to their implementation. In particular, the
workshop aimed to answer the following questions for each of
the indicator options:
- Does the indicator need more research before it can be
implemented?
- Could an indicator be published in October 2013 or in October
2014?
- What data constraints exist (including access permissions that
might need to be negotiated)?
- Can the indicator, if implemented, be updated within the next
3-5 years?
The participants were split into 3 groups to discuss
new indicators for the following :
- Business
- Awareness
- Ecosystem services
Outcome of the Forum:
- A concise report detailing key issues and outcomes discussed at
the Forum which will aid the UK Biodiversity Indicators
Steering Group (UK BISG), to make decisions on which options to
take forward.
A copy of the final report can be viewed
here.