Why European biodiversity reporting is not reliable

Area of Science:

• Ecology and Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology
• Environmental Policy

Background:

• The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) seeks to halt biodiversity loss, a critical global ecological challenge.
• Ineffective biodiversity policy implementation is often linked to deficiencies in biodiversity monitoring systems.
• Current biodiversity monitoring faces challenges in accurately reflecting national contexts and priorities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review biodiversity indicator selection in European CBD reports to inform post-2020 policy.
• To assess the alignment of chosen indicators with national geographic and socioeconomic factors.
• To identify biases in indicator selection, particularly concerning genetic diversity.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of biodiversity indicator choices within European national CBD reports.
• Application of statistical models, including negative binary generalized models and Poisson generalized linear models.
• Comparison of indicator selection against national geographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Main Results:

• Countries exhibit free choice in selecting CBD reporting indicators, often disregarding national specificities.
• A disproportionate focus on species and ecosystem diversity indicators over genetic diversity indicators was observed.
• Derived biodiversity trends from European national reports and monitoring systems lack reliability.

Conclusions:

• The current approach to indicator selection compromises the accuracy of biodiversity status assessments.
• Reliability issues in national CBD reports signal a need for urgent revision of monitoring systems.
• A proposed flowchart aims to guide the revision of national biodiversity monitoring frameworks.