Global Perspective on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (2007)
Recommendations of the meeting of the European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy held under the German Presidency of the EU “Sustainable use of Biodiversity”. Leipzig, 5th-7th May, 2007 concerning:
EUROPEAN BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH AND THE GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
To achieve the objectives of the Communication of the Commission of the European Communities to halt biodiversity loss by 2010 and beyond (COM (2006) 216 final) in its Policy Area 2: The EU and global biodiversity, the participants of this meeting place high priority on research to determine:
1. The way things are: status and trends of biodiversity and ecosystems
- 1.1. Support the implementation of the CBD by developing taxonomy, identification, inventories and monitoring of biodiversity and of globally accessible and interoperable databases.
- 1.2. Develop methods for more effective, efficient, rapid and comprehensive measurement of global biodiversity status and trends and related policy relevant indicators bearing in mind the importance of islands and other particularly valuable and threatened, globallydistributed ecosystems.
2. Why they matter
- 2.1. Improve understanding of the relationships between biodiversity change, the global distribution of wealth, human well-being, health and disease, and the mitigation of damaging global change.
- 2.2. Improve understanding of the sustainable use of biodiversity at different scales and its relationships with human well-being.
- 2.3. Improve understanding of how conservation of biodiversity and restoration schemes can contribute to mitigation of climate change.
3. How it got like this: the drivers of biodiversity loss
- 3.1. Understand the interplay between genetic, population, species, ecosystem and landscape/seascape diversity, and the implications for biodiversity responses to globally significant drivers of biodiversity change.
- 3.2. Understand the influence of extreme weather events, flood, drought, fire and other catastrophic events in developing countries on biodiversity, conservation and sustainable use in the context of a changing climate and other long term drivers.
- 3.3. Evaluate effects of European production and consumption patterns, transport, trade and tourism, on biodiversity and ecosystem services in other parts of the world.
- 3.4. Quantify the impact of European policy on biodiversity in other parts of the world.
These recommendations focus on issues that are particularly important for the topic under consideration. For the sake of economy and to sharpen the focus of this document, they do not in general repeat recommendations made in the EPBRS Action Plan, even when those recommendations relate to the topic. The recommendations in this document will be considered for inclusion in the action plan during reviews.
4. What to do about it: governance, policy and tools to address biodiversity loss and its impacts
- 4.1. Develop participatory biodiversity management strategies adapted to local social, economic, cultural and ecological conditions that allow scientific conclusions to be drawn and integrated into improvements of those strategies.
- 4.2. Construct better scenarios of sustainable use, ecosystem services and biodiversity change to assist policy assessment and development in a changing world and help to integrate biodiversity dimensions into international policies.
- 4.3. Improve practical methods to value biodiversity and ecosystem services for development and aid policies and projects with special emphasis on least developed countries.
- 4.4. Develop strategies and tools that allow European citizens to make decisions taking into account their impact on biodiversity outside Europe.
In addition to these research priorities the participants of this meeting see an urgent need to build and maintain communication and research capacity and infrastructure in developing countries. As well as improving global ability to respond to biodiversity change, this would also complement the work of DIVERSITAS and add value to European initiatives including Life Watch.