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Biodiversity Newsflash 100
November 2020
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1 | Discover our new Email Services You are receiving this Newsflash because you have previously subscribed to one of our mailing lists and the contents of this newsletter pertain to a topic that might interest you. As stakeholders of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform you can now let us know exactly what information you would like to receive by managing your preferences. This is to ensure we send you all relevant information that you are interested in, while also avoiding sending you messages that you may no longer want to receive. Thank you once again for subscribing with the Belgian Biodiversity Platform! For more information, please contact Divija Jata, Science Communication Coordinator, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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| 2 | Belgian Biodiversity Platform: 20 Year Report
It's the end of the year and once again we would like to highlight the achievements of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, since its inception in 2000. In case you missed it, we welcome you to have a look back at how our organisation has evolved and how it has enriched the landscape of biodiversity research and policy in Belgium and beyond.
Download the report here.
For more information, please contact Divija Jata, Science Communication Coordinator, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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3 | Belgian One Health NetworkOne Health included in policy declaration new federal Minister of Public Health Frank VandenbrouckeOn November 5 th 2020, the new federal Minister of Public Health Frank Vandenbroucke in his first policy declaration, specifically addressed the importance of One Health as a guiding concept, next to those of One World and One Voice. The Belgian One Health network BEOH which was launched exactly one year ago, on November 5 th 2019, welcomes this attention for One Health, and looks forward to future collaborations with the new Minister, as well as with the other Ministers. We also invite the Minister to help build bridges between human health, animal health, plant health and ecosystem health.
One Health inspiration
BEOH is currently finalizing the BEOH COVID-survey report and prepares a policy brief with key Belgian One Health lessons from past experiences and networking. Publication will be notified in due course through the Belgian Biodiversity Platform newsflash.
We would also like to direct your attention to two recent COVID related publications initiated within the realm of the BEOH network:
Global change increases zoonotic risk, COVID-19 changes risk perceptions: a plea for urban nature connectedness
EcoHealth reframing of disease monitoring
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4 | LifeWatch: Use your gaming skills to save the eel!Pieterjan Verhelst, a biotelemetry scientist and frequent user of the Belgian LifeWatch infrastructure developed a game “Save the eel”, to inform the general public about the obstacles eels face during their seaward migration.
Dive under water to help Angie the eel into the sea so she can go reproduce in the Sargasso Sea, an area ca. 7000 km west of Europe. As you play the game, you learn more about the eel and the obstacles they need to pass. Did you, for instance, know that eels migrate the 7000 km without feeding, relying on nothing but their fat reserves and even parts of their skeleton?
The game is suitable for both young and old, and can be played in English or Dutch, both on desktop and mobile devices. It can also be embedded in websites via an iframe-embed. So if you would have interest to use the game (for instance for an event where a price can be given to the person with the daily high score), don’t hesitate to contact Pieterjan Verhelst.
The game was developed together with Scriptie vzw and supported by Ghent University, LifeWatch Belgium, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ). The game was developed by Slappy.inc.
The game is available on http://bit.ly/savetheeel.
For more information, please contact Dimitri Brosens, Biodiversity Data Acquisition Manager, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
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5 | IPBES Notification: Call for nominations for scoping a methodological assessment on business and biodiversity
The IPBES Plenary, in decision IPBES-7/1, adopted the rolling work programme of IPBES up to 2030 (set out in annex I to decision IPBES-7/1), which includes under its first objective a methodological assessment of the impact and dependence of business on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people (“business and biodiversity assessment”).
This assessment is aimed at categorizing how businesses depend on, and impact, biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people and at identifying criteria and indicators for measuring that dependence and impact, taking into consideration how such metrics can be integrated into other aspects of sustainability.
IPBES is seeking experts and practitioners with expertise in impact and dependency on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people of different economic sectors such as forestry, agriculture and fisheries, water, tourism, energy and mining, built environment and infrastructure, manufacturing and processing, health and financial institutions.
All nominated experts (Nominees) need to be available to attend the scoping meeting that is part of the scoping process, tentatively scheduled for 26-30 April 2021.
The full notification can be found here.
PROCEDURE FOR NOMINATION
- Nominees are invited to fill out the application form and attach their curriculum vitae, through the dedicated web portal. To access this page, you will need to log in with your IPBES web site login credentials.
- The nominating Government or organisation (Nominator) indicated by the Nominee will receive an email with a link to the nomination form and will be invited to approve and submit the nominations in the web portal. Only nominations approved and submitted by the Nominator will be considered for the workshop;
- Nominators and Nominees will receive a confirmation via email once the nomination has been duly submitted.
Interested experts wishing to be nominated by the Belgian Government are encouraged to contact the Belgian IPBES National Focal Point by 25 January 2021:
Type of nomination body: Government
Position of contact person: Belgian IPBES National Focal Point
Full name (nominator): Lise Goudeseune
E-mail (nominator): l.goudeseune@biodiversity.be
Phone number (nominator): +32 2 627 43 16
Early applications and nominations ahead of the deadline are highly encouraged.
Please feel free to circulate this message in your network.
For more information, please contact Lise Goudeseune, Science Policy Officer, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
Interested in receiving news further news about IPBES and the works of the Belgian IPBES national focal point, manage your preferences
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6 | BiodivERsA: Handbook on the use of Biodiversity Scenarios in support of decision-making
A new tool for planning the futureLong-term planning is a risky business.
No one can surely know what will happen many years from now. Still, some urgent decisions must be made, that will have great impact on the future. A handbook on the use of scenarios for biodiversity is now available.
BiodivERsA and the Belmont Forum, in the framework of their Joint Action on Scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services (see information on the joint call 2017-2018) produced a Handbook on the use of biodiversity scenarios in support of decision-making.
This handbook is intended for any individual interested to learn about biodiversity scenarios, and in particular participatory scenario design and the use of biodiversity scenarios in decision-making. It builds on a variety of sources (literature, expert and non-expert consultations, interviews) to provide a general understanding of scenarios of biodiversity, concreteexamples of their use, and a directory of relevant resources to go further on the topic.
By reading this handbook, you will learn about:
- Different types of scenarios that relate to decision-making
- Key features, pitfalls, and best practices in developing and using scenarios of biodiversity and ecosystem services
- Illustrative examples, case studies, and lessons learned on participatory biodiversity scenarios and their use, drawn from research projects funded by BiodivERsA, Belmont Forum, and others
- Further reading, tools and resources on the topic of (biodiversity) scenarios
The complete Handbook is available here and the directory of resources on biodiversity scenarios is available here.
For more information, please contact Lise Goudeseune, Science Policy Officer, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
Interested in receiving news further news about BiodivERsA, manage your preferences
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7 | BiodivERsA: Citizen Science Toolkit
Discover the BiodivERsA Citizen Science Toolkit aimed at researchers and scientists working in the fields of biodiversity or environmental sciences who are involved or have an interest in involving citizens in their research projects.
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With this Toolkit you will :
- Get a better overview and understanding of what Citizen Science is;
- Figure out all the benefits of adopting Citizen science approaches;
- Have access to a list of the most relevant publications and most useful tools for Citzen Science;
- Discover many examples of Citizen Science projects and testimonies from researchers;
- Find out how to overcome the most common perceived challenges.
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The Toolkit was developed by a working group including scientists and citizen science experts, following the Citizen Science workshop organised in Brussels in April 2019.
For more information, please contact Lise Goudeseune, Science Policy Officer, at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform.
Interested in receiving news further news about BiodivERsA, manage your preferences
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9 | EKLIPSE: Moving Towards Transformative Change for Biodiversity
As part of our work for EKLIPSE, the Platform facilitated a request from the European Commission on
“What can researchers offer to understand Transformative Change and to translate it into actions, goals, targets and pathways for the Global Biodiversity Strategy to 2030?”
The report authored by transformative change experts, with some guidance from the CBD and the post 2020 process, proposes a pathway to move away from theory, using (6) steps. It's aim is to identify how transformative change can be made more tangible and to illustrate how this might be done in practice in order to seize the opportunities for enabling action on the ground. Drawing on the conclusions of the IPBES Global Assessment, UNEP, EEA and others, the report seeks to identify how transformative change can be leveraged at the level of global governance.
For more information, please contact Jorge Ventocilla, Policy Expert at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform
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10 | INBO Nature Report 2020
The current European and global Biodiversity Strategy 2020 is about to expire. In May 2020, the European Commission presented the new European Biodiversity Strategy 2030 as part of the European Green Deal. The changes in European and international biodiversity policy are an ideal starting point for looking back critically on the biodiversity policy of the past decades in Flanders as well. What about our biodiversity? What are the main pressures? Have we achieved the goals for 2020? And what recommendations can we deduce from this?
Join us in following the presentation of the Nature Report 2020, not in the Flemish Parliament as we are used to, but here via livestream.
When: Monday 14 December 10-12am
For more information, please contact Hilde Eggermont, Scientific Coordinator at the Belgian Biodiversity Platform
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 11 | Interview: Anne Teller Senior Expert, Directorate - General Environment of the European Commission.
Could you tell us about your main responsibilities at DG Environment of the European Commission?I am Senior expert in the Directorate-General Environment of the European Commission. My main task is to improve the knowledge and evidence base for EU biodiversity policy. An important contribution was the delivery of the first EU wide ecosystem assessment in October 2020 that I coordinated together with the Joint Research Centre and the European Environment Agency. This landmark report will substantially inform the final evaluation of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 and provide a baseline for monitoring progress on the 2030 commitments.What are the main challenges in your role?The main challenge is to try to connect two different worlds – science and policy. The two domains are extremely interesting but work very differently in terms of approaches, priorities, timelines, etc. I often see myself as a go-between trying to facilitate finding acceptable solutions for both. We have been working towards halting biodiversity loss for over three decades now with ambitious targets and frameworks, yet biodiversity is still declining. How could biodiversity platforms, such as the Belgian Biodiversity Platform, help to turn the tide? Biodiversity and the relationships with ecosystems and ecosystem services is complex and difficult to understand. Communication beyond the science and policy realms is certainly an important aspect that the Platform could help to further develop. Storylines which resonate with people and steer action are crucial. The examples of plastic waste or declining insect populations show that when there is public awareness, policy action follows.
The Belgian Biodiversity Platform has made a lot of efforts to build communities of practice around key topics, such as health or ecosystem services, by bringing a wider community closer in an innovative way. For instance, the BEES Christmas Markets have been very successful and have brought in considerable attention. This is why the European Commission was happy to participate in the co-organisation of a MAES (Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services) Christmas Market at the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences in 2015. How do you assess the performance of the BBPf as a national science-policy interface for biodiversity? What type of activities (or initiatives) supported by the BBPf have you been engaged in yourself?The Platform has organised a lot of relevant activities in which I have been involved, such as the ECA network(i.e. network of national organisations engaging in IPBES) and its Pan-European Stakeholder Consultations (PESC-meetings), in support of awareness and capacity building around the work of IPBES, and the BiodivERsA/Biodiversity Partnership, coordinating research programmes between EU and its Member States and Associated Countries. I have also channeled requests, for instance for science support to policy during the review of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services from the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, through Eklipse. There are always lessons to be learned for both sides and we should continue this science and policy coaching.
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 Every month we present interesting items in the news we have read and that are worth sharing! Countries commit to restore global land area the size of China Countries have committed to restoring up to 1 billion hectares of land lost to development, an area roughly the size of China, according to a new study released ahead of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). If implemented, the commitments made under various international agreements could go a long way to addressing climate change, land degradation and biodiversity loss as well as achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, including those on dignified work, and food and water security. ‘Nature is next’: Q&A with Finance for Biodiversity’s Simon ZadekAccording to Simon Zadek, chair of the Finance for Biodiversity Initiative, the pandemic may ultimately come to be seen as a tipping point in long-running efforts to persuade the financial sector to factor nature and biodiversity into decision-making. Zadek says there are multiple routes to greener finance, including linking environmental outcomes to debt relief, but that it will take radical transparency in the financial sector to move in that direction.
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