Sufficiency and Suitability of Global Biodiversity Indicators for Monitoring Progress to 2020 Targets

Biodiversity indicators are widely used tools to help determine rates of biodiversity change and the success or failure of efforts to conserve it. However, their sufficiency and suitability in providing information for decision‐makers is unclear. Here, we review the indicators brought together under...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation letters 2016-11, Vol.9 (6), p.489-494
Main Authors: Mcowen, Chris J., Ivory, Sarah, Dixon, Matthew J. R., Regan, Eugenie C., Obrecht, Andreas, Tittensor, Derek P., Teller, Anne, Chenery, Anna M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aichi Targets
Biodiversity
biodiversity indicators partnership
conservation
convention on biological diversity
Conventions
Indicators
Knowledge management
strategic plan
Trends
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Summary:Biodiversity indicators are widely used tools to help determine rates of biodiversity change and the success or failure of efforts to conserve it. However, their sufficiency and suitability in providing information for decision‐makers is unclear. Here, we review the indicators brought together under the Biodiversity Indicator Partnership to monitor progress towards the Aichi Targets to determine where there are gaps. Of the 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets, Targets 2, 3, and 15 are missing indicators entirely. Scoring the indicators in relation to their alignment, temporal relevance and spatial scale shows additional gaps under Targets 1, 13, and 16–20. Predominately, gaps were found to be socio‐economic in nature (i.e., benefits, pressures, and responses) rather than status‐related (i.e., states), principally due to a poor alignment between the indicator and the text of the Aichi Target. Hence, it is critical that existing indicators are properly resourced and maintained and new indicators developed to be able to effectively monitor biodiversity and its influencing factors to 2020 and beyond.
ISSN:1755-263X
1755-263X
DOI:10.1111/conl.12329