Developing the UK Biodiversity Indicators

James WilliamsIndicators & Reporting Manager,

Joint Nature Conservation Committee,Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough,

PE1 1JY. United Kingdom.

James.Williams@jncc.gov.uk+44 (0)1733 86 68 68

www.jncc.gov.uk/biyp

June 2013

Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020

Framework for all Conventions and stakeholders.

Vision: Living in harmony with nature. By 2050, biodiversity is valued, conserved, restored and wisely used, maintaining ecosystem services, sustaining a healthy planet and delivering benefits essential for all people.”

Mission Take effective and urgent action to halt the loss of biodiversity in order to ensure that by 2020 ecosystems are resilient and continue to provide essential services, thereby securing the planet’s variety of life, and contributing to human well-being, and poverty eradication

20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets under 5 Strategic Goals

http://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/

Strategic Plan Goals & Targets

A mainstreamingTargets on: awareness, values/accounting, incentives, mainstreaming sustainable use

B pressuresTargets on: habitat loss, fisheries, sustainable land use, pollution, invasive aliens, climate change impacts

C safeguardingTargets on: protected areas, threatened species, domesticated species and wild relatives

D benefitsTargets on: ecosystem services, restoration, access to genetic resources

E knowledge and capacityTargets on: NBSAPs, local communities, science base, resources

http://www.cbd.int/sp/targets/

UK indicators post-2010

• 2010/11: UK biodiversity indicators reviewed– gap analysis & data quality check

– all of the indicators can be re-used, albeit with some requiring modification

– some new indicators will need to be developed to fill gaps

• 2012: new framework implemented– interim set of 24 indicators (35 measures) published

May 2012

– assigned existing indicators to specific goals and targets

– some may be relevant to multiple targets / goals

– work begun to adjust the UK biodiversity indicator suite, and to create new indicators to fill the gaps identified in the review

The Strategic Plan and the UK biodiversity indicators

• Each indicator is assigned to a Strategic Goal– e.g. indicators with the prefix ‘A’ are considered to be of most direct

relevance to Goal A.

• Each indicator is mapped against target(s) as ‘primary indicator(s)’, or as ‘other relevant indicator(s)’. – e.g. Target 4 is represented by 3 ‘primary indicators’ (A3, A4, B3), and 3

‘other relevant indicators’ (B1, B2, D1)

– ‘Primary indicators’ are most closely linked to a target

– ‘Other relevant indicators’ have less strong links but still relevant

• Indicators may also be of relevance to targets within other goals– e.g. Indicator E2 is a ‘primary indicator’ for Target 20 in Goal E, but is

also an ‘other relevant indicator’ for Targets 2 and 3 in Goal A.

Strategic Goal A mainstreaming

A2: Conservation volunteering

Under development

A1: Awareness, understanding & support

A3: Value of biodiversity integrated into decision making

A4: Global impact

Targets on: awareness, values/accounting, incentives, mainstreaming sustainable use

Strategic Goal B pressures

B1b: Sustainable forestry

B2 Sustainable fisheries

Under development

B3: Integration of biodiversity into business activity

B4: Climate change adaptation

B7: Water quality

B4: Spring Index

B5a: Air pollution

B6: Invasive species

B5b: Marine pollution

B1a:Agri-environment Schemes

Targets on: habitat loss, fisheries, sustainable land use, pollution, invasive aliens, climate change

Strategic Goal C safeguarding

Under development

C2: Habitat connectivity

C3: Threatened habitats

C4: Threatened species

C9: Plant genetic resources

C1: Protected sites

C6: Butterflies

C5: BirdsC7: Plants

C8: Bats

C9: Animal genetic resources

Targets on: protected areas, threatened species, domesticated species and wild relatives

Strategic Goal D benefits

Under development

D2: Ecosystem Services

D1: Marine fish size classes

Targets on: ecosystem services, restoration, access to genetic resources

Strategic Goal E knowledgeand capacity

Under development

E1: Biodiversity data for decision making

E2a: Expenditure on UK biodiversity E2b: Expenditure on international biodiversity

Targets on: NBSAPs, local communities, science base, resources

Mapping the UK biodiversity indicators to the Aichi Targets• Comparison of UK indicators with global-level indicators

developed by the CBD demonstrates a fairly good fit.

• At present, no indicators have been identified for Targets 16, 17 and 18.– Target 16 is about the Nagoya protocol on access and benefits

sharing – it would be premature to develop an indicator until how this is going to work is resolved

– Target 17 is about National Biodiversity Strategy and Action P;lan (NBSAP) – effectively this is a yes/no response at a national level, so is suitable for a global indicator, but not a national one

– Target 18 is about indigenous communities – less relevant for UK

Using the UK indicators

• UK biodiversity indicators anticipated to form a major part of the UK’s 5th CBD national report

• Need to analyse progress for each Aichi target– Likely to need to integrate messages from different indicators

– Other data sources and information also likely to be necessary

• Some parts of some targets may not be covered

UK Biodiversity Indicators – governance & implementation

Four Countries

Group

Four Countries

Group

Defra, Devolved Administrations, JNCC

UK Biodiversity

Indicators SG

UK Biodiversity

Indicators SG

Advice

Decisions

Defra, Devolved Administrations, Country Agencies, JNCC, NGOs

Project GroupProject Group

Advice

Decisions

Defra, JNCC

Biodiversity

Indicators Forum

Biodiversity

Indicators ForumReview

Statutory and Non Governmental Organisations, Academia

Choosing IndicatorsEach indicator should have the following characteristics:

• Policy relevant and meaningful

• Biodiversity relevant

• Scientifically sound and methodologically well founded

• Show progress towards the 2020 targets

• Easy to understand

• Based on affordable monitoring, available and routinely collected data

• Amenable to modelling of cause-effect relationships

• Good spatial and temporal coverage of data

• Applicable at a national scale

• Aggregation possible at a range of scales

• Sensitive to change

The set as a whole should be:

• Representative

• Limited in number

Questions?

http://www.cbd.int/nr5/

Reports due to be submitted end March 2014

• Part I – An update on biodiversity status, trends, and threats and

implications for human well-being o Key information: State of biodiversity reports (e.g. birds, butterflies, …)

• Part II – The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan

(NBSAP), its implementation, and the mainstreaming of

biodiversityo Key information: Biodiversity and Environment Strategies.

CBD 5th National Report

http://www.cbd.int/nr5/

5th National Report

• Part III – Progress towards the 2015 and 2020 Aichi Biodiversity

Targets and contributions to the relevant 2015 Targets of the

Millennium Development Goalso Key information: biodiversity indicators

+ Appendices on thematic Programmes of Work & cross-cutting

issueso Yet to decide what to include

http://www.cbd.int/nr5/

Individual indicators can contribute to the assessment of multiple targets (or goals)

Target 1 Target 2 Target 3

RegionalTargets (e.g. EU)

National targets

Goal Flexible framework; do not need to have the same indicator at each scale

Framework from AHTEG

Pressures and underlying causes

Indicators broadly related to Strategic Goals A and B

State Indicators broadly related

to Strategic Goal C

Responses

Indicators related to all Strategic Goals

Benefits Indicators broadly related

to Strategic Goal D

What do we do about biodiversity loss?

What are the implicationsof biodiversity loss?

Why are we losing biodiversity?

How is the status of biodiversity changing?

Strategic Goal A

Address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across government and society

Target 1. By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably.  Target 2: By 2020, at the latest, the biodiversity values have been integrated into national and local development and poverty reduction strategies and planning processes and are being incorporated into national accounting, as appropriate, and reporting systems.Target 3: By 2020, at the latest, incentives, including subsidies, harmful to biodiversity are eliminated, phased out or reformed in order to minimize or avoid negative impacts, and positive incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity are developed and applied, consistent and in harmony with the Convention and other relevant international obligations , taking into account national socio-economic conditions.Target 4: By 2020, at the latest, Governments, business and stakeholders at all levels have taken steps to achieve or have implemented plans for sustainable production and consumption and have kept the impacts of use of natural resources well within safe ecological limits.

Strategic Goal B

Reduce the direct pressures on biodiversity and promote sustainable use

Target 5: By 2020, the rate of loss and degradation, and fragmentation, of natural habitats, including forests, is at least halved and where feasible brought close to zero, and degradation and fragmentation is significantly reduced.

Target 6: By 2020, all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants are managed and harvested sustainably, legally and applying ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant adverse impact on threatened species and vulnerable ecosystems and the impacts of fisheries on stocks, species and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits.

Target 7: By 2020 areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, ensuring conservation of biodiversity.

Target 8: By 2020, pollution, including from excess nutrients, has been brought to levels that are not detrimental to ecosystem function and biodiversity.Target 9: By 2020, invasive alien species and pathways are identified and prioritized, priority species are controlled or eradicated and measures are in place to manage pathways to prevent their introduction and establishment of invasive alien species.

Target 10:  By 2015, the multiple anthropogenic pressures on coral reefs, and other vulnerable ecosystems impacted by climate change or ocean acidification are minimized, so as to maintain their integrity and functioning.

Strategic Goal C

To improve the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity

Target 11: By 2020, at least 17% of terrestrial and inland water and 10% of coastal and marine areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and ecosystem services, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape.Target 12: By 2020, the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented and their conservation status, particularly of those most in decline, has been improved and sustained. Target 13: By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and wild relatives, including other socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species is maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

Strategic Goal D

Enhance the benefits to all from biodiversity and ecosystems

Target 14: By 2020, ecosystems that provide essential services, including services related to water, and contribute to health, livelihoods and well-being, are restored and safeguarded, , taking into account the needs of women, indigenous and local communities and the poor and vulnerable.

Target 15: By 2020, ecosystem resilience and the contribution of biodiversity to carbon stocks has been enhanced, through conservation and restoration, including restoration of at least 15% of degraded ecosystems, thereby contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation and to combating desertification.

Target 16: By 2015, the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization is in force and operational, consistent with national legislation.

Strategic Goal E

Enhance implementation through participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity building

Target 17: By 2015, each Party has developed, adopted as a policy instrument, and has commenced implemented, an effective, participatory and updated national biodiversity strategy and action plan.

Target 18: By 2020, the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities that are relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and their customary use of biological resources, are respected, subject to national legislation and relevant international obligations, and fully integrated and reflected in the in the implementation of the Convention with the full and effective participation of indigenous and local communities, at all relevant levels.

Target 19: By 2020, knowledge, the science base and technologies relating to biodiversity, its values, functioning, status and trends, and the consequences of its loss, are improved, widely shared and transferred, and applied.

Target 20: By 2020, at the latest, the mobilisation of financial resources for effectively implementing the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 from all sources and in accordance with the consolidated and agreed process in the Strategy for Resource Mobilisation should increase substantially from the current levels.

Choosing Indicators (1)

1. Policy relevant and meaningful: Each indicator should be policy relevant. It should send a clear message at a level appropriate for policy and management decision making. It should be meaningful on a regional level.

2. Biodiversity relevant: Each indicator should be relevant for biodiversity.

3. Scientifically sound and methodologically well founded: A clear description of the methodology used should be available as the indicator may be used in other indicator initiatives also.

4. Progress towards target: Each indicator should show progress towards the 2020 targets.

5. Broad acceptance and understandability: Each indicator should be easy to understand and to document.

Choosing Indicators (2)

6. Affordable monitoring, available and routinely collected data: Each indicator should be able to be updated regularly.

7. Affordable modelling: Information on cause-effect relationships should be achievable and quantifiable.

8. Spatial and temporal coverage of data: the data should be consistent in space and cover all or most of [select spatial resolution]. The temporal coverage of data should be as long as possible, and relevant to the timescale for policy making.

9. National scale and representativeness of data: Each indicator should apply to the national and relevant supra-national.

10.Sensitive: Each indicator should be able to detect changes in systems in timeframes and on the scales that are relevant to policy decisions, but also be robust so that measuring errors do not affect their interpretation.

• Two assessment periods for each indicator

• Long-term – assessment of change since the earliest date for which data are availableo If data do not precede

1996 a long term assessment is not made

• Short-term - assessment of change since 2000

• Assessment of trend, not distance to target

Improving

Little or no overall change

Deteriorating

Insufficient or no comparable data

Traffic Light Assessments

Indicator number (Strategic Goal / number), title, and measures where applicable

Long-term change1

Change since 20002

A1. Awareness, understanding and support for conservation Under development, no interim measure(s) available

A2. Taking action for nature: volunteer time spent in conservation

A3. Value of biodiversity integrated into decision making Under development, no interim measure(s) available

A4. Global biodiversity impacts of UK economic activity / sustainable consumption

Under development, no interim measure(s) available

B1. Agricultural and forest area under environmental management schemes

B1a. Area of land in agri-environment schemes

B1a(i). Higher-level / targeted schemes

1992–2011

B1a(ii). Entry-level type schemes

2005

B1b. Area of forestry land certified as sustainably managed

2001

B2. Sustainable fisheries 1990–2010

B3. Integration of biodiversity considerations into business activity Under development, no interim measure(s) available

B4. Pressure from climate change Not assessed Not assessed

B5. Pressure from pollution B5a. Air pollution

B5a(i). Area affected by acidity

1996–2007

B5a(ii). Area affected by nitrogen

1996–2007

B5b. Marine pollution 1990–2010

B6. Pressure from invasive species B6a. Freshwater invasive species

1960–2008

B6b. Marine invasive species

1960–2008

B6c. Terrestrial invasive species

1960–2008

B7. Water quality

1990–2009

C1. Protected sites C1a. Total area of protected sites: on land

1980–2011

C1b. Total area of protected sites: at sea

1980–2011

C1c. Condition of A/SSSIs 2005-6

C2. Habitat connectivity C2a. Broad-leaved, mixed and yew woodland

1998

C2b. Neutral grassland 1998

C3. Status of threatened habitats 1999

C4. Status of threatened species 1999

Indicator number (Strategic Goal / number), title, and measures where applicable

Long-term change

Change since 2000

C5. Birds of the wider countryside and at sea

C5a. Farmland birds 1970–2010

C5b. Woodland birds 1970–2010

C5c. Wetland birds 1975–2010

C5d. Seabirds 1970–2010

C5e. Wintering water birds 1975/6–2009/10

C6. Insects of the wider countryside (butterflies)

C6a. Semi-natural habitat specialists

1976–2011

C6b. Species of the wider countryside

1976–2011

C7. Plants of the wider countryside C7a. Change in plant species richness (arable and horticultural land)

1990–2007

1998

C7b. Change in plant species richness (woodland and grassland)

1990–2007

1998

C7c. Change in plant species richness (boundary habitats)

1990–2007

1998

C8. Mammals of the wider countryside (bats) 1978–1992

C9. Genetic resources for food and agriculture

C9a. Native sheep breeds 2001

C9b. Native cattle breeds 2001

D1. Biodiversity and ecosystem services (marine – fish size classes in the North Sea)

1982–2010

D2. Biodiversity and ecosystem services (other) Under development, no interim measure(s) available

E1. Biodiversity data for decision making Under development, no interim measure(s) available

E2. Expenditure on UK and international biodiversity

E2a. Expenditure on UK biodiversity

E2b. UK Expenditure on international biodiversity

2012 results