The project DIVERSITY 2010 project is an extension (CCN) of the DIVERSITY project finalised by the end of 2008. One of the indicators (trends in dry and sub-humid lands) developed in the DIVERSITY project was picked up by the DIVERSITY 2010 project for further development and extension to other ecosystems. The project description and results can be found here: http://www.geoville.com/diversity/.
Objective
At the 6th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) it had been agreed "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth".
Monitoring the progress towards the 2010 target requires assessing the change in the rate of biodiversity loss. In the DIVERSITY project (ESRIN contract no. 20096/06/I-EC) GeoVille Information Systems has successfully demonstrated how existing global land cover data can be used to assess changes in the composition of one particular ecosystem - dry and subhumid lands.
The objective of the DIVERSITY 2010 project is to support the CDB by contributing to the development of CBD headline indicators by assessing changes in the extent of different ecosystems or their connectivity / fragmentation. DIVERSITY 2010 will do so by developing a consistent approach for an assessment of changes in selected ecosystems based on existing global land cover databases.
One headline indicator is "Trends in extent of selected biomes, ecosystems and habitats". Information about trends in the extent of biomes, ecosystems and habitat-types on a global scale is a crucial part of understanding the state and trends of biodiversity as a whole, and determining the extent to which the 2010 target is being met.
The following indicators will be implemented to provide statistics and maps on the extent over time:
- Global trends in forest ecosystems extent
- Global trends in forest ecosystem fragmentation / connectivity
- Global trends in grassland ecosystems extent
- Global trends in cropland ecosystems extent
- Global extend of urban areas
In preparation of the third edition of the Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO) the COP has invited organisations and relevant bodies to make relevant data on status and trends of biological diversity available. DIVERSITY 2010 will aim at being one of the relevant "stakeholders" to contribute to the GBO. Thus, a further challenge will be the timely delivery of requested the information as the deadlines set forth by the authors of the GBO report are tight and cannot be influenced by the current project. The Diversity 2010 project is carried out by the private company GeoVille from Austria who was already prime contractor of the DIVERSITY contract. .
Users
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
In 1992, at the "Earth Summit", the Convention on Biological Diversity, the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity was signed. Since then more than 187 countries have ratified the agreement. The Convention has three main goals:
- The conservation of biodiversity
- Sustainable use of the components of biodiversity
- Sharing the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC)
The UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre is the biodiversity information and assessment arm of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Centre has a mandate from the UNEP Governing Council to provide a range of biodiversity-related services to UNEP, the biodiversity-related conventions and their constituent party-states and other bodies in the non-governmental and private sectors.
2010 Biodiversity Indicator Partnership (BIP)
The 2010 Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (2010 BIP) brings together a host of international organisations working at the forefront of biodiversity indicator development to assess progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 2010 Target.
An essential part of reaching the 2010 biodiversity target is being able to measure and communicate progress. To reach this COP 7 in 2004 adopted a framework which includes a range of indicators and the set up of an expert group.
The 2010 BIP brings together a host of international organizations working on indicator development, to provide the best available information on biodiversity trends to the global community and assess progress towards the CBD 2010 target.
The three main objectives of the 2010 BIP are:
- To generate information on biodiversity trends which is useful to decision makers;
- To ensure improved global biodiversity indicators are implemented and available;
- To establish links between biodiversity initiatives at the regional and national levels to enable capacity building and improve the delivery of the biodiversity indicators.
Two decisions from CBD COP 9 in 2008 specifically refer to the 2010 BIP (Decision IX/9 and Decision IX/10), both of which relate to the production of the Global Biodiversity Outlook 3 (GBO-3).
The Partnership will continue to the year 2010 and beyond to provide the best available information on biodiversity trends to all its users, and to promote the various ways in which the global indicators can be applied and communicated. The 2010 BIP is a dynamic partnership and welcomes comments and contributions for improving information to reduce biodiversity loss
European Environment Agency (EEA)
The task of the European Environment Agency (EEA) is to provide sound, independent information on the environment. The EEA is a major information source for those involved in developing, adopting, implementing and evaluating environmental policy, and the general public.
Main clients are the European Union institutions - the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council - and the currently 32 member countries and 6 associated countries. In addition to this central group of European policy actors, EEA also serves other EU institutions such as the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.
The mandate of the EEA includes the support of the Community and member countries make informed decisions about improving the environment, integrating environmental considerations into economic policies and moving towards sustainability.
The EEA provides a wide range of assessments, analysing the state of and trends in the environment, together with the pressures caused by economic and social driving forces. The EEA also works on scenario development, policy evaluation and data quality assurance. In addition, the EEA coordinates the European environment information and observation network (Eionet).
In order to make such assessment the EEA needs reliable, accessible and timely data on the environment as a key factor for monitoring European policies..
Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the funding of the project "DIVERSITY Biodiversity 2010 target assessment" by ESA within DUE program (dup.esrin.esa.it). MERIS (FR and RR), ERS and SPOT data used are provided by ESA as part of a CAT-1 project (CAT-1 No. 4202). Furthermore, we acknowledge the use of Globcover2005, GlobColour and Medspiration data kindly provided by ESA. Local ancillary data are kindly provided by the user organizations involved in the project.
