EUROPA BON

Kick-off meeting

The project officially starts on 1 December, 2020 and the Kick-off meeting for EuropaBON will take place from 1-3 December, 2020. The agenda of the meeting is available here.

If you interested in participating at any of the open sessions, please send an email to Jessi Junker at jessica.junker@idiv.de to receive the link and password to access the meeting via Zoom.

Visit EuropaBON on social media:

Become a member of the network

Join our network and become a EuropaBON member!

Help us design a Europa Biodiversity Observation Network - EuropaBON!

Call for stakeholders now open!

EuropaBON aims to bridge numerous gaps in biodiversity monitoring by engaging stakeholders, together with the wider biodiversity community. To keep you informed on all project developments and solicit your active participation as a stakeholder, we invite you to register as a EuropaBON stakeholder.

Register here

For more information on the registration and its benefits, please see this document.

EuropaBONStakeholderCall.pdf

Save the Date!

The 1st EuropaBON High-level stakeholder workshop will be held online on

May 26-28th, 2021

More information will follow soon via our website and newsfeed.

Visit EuropaBON on social media:

Webinar on EuropaBON's User and Policy Needs Assessment

by Hannah Moersberger

EuropaBON releases assessment of user and policy needs

by Hannah Moersberger

National biodiversity monitoring programmes in Europe face many challenges: too little coordination, inadequate technical and financial resources as well as unclear targets. This is one of the conclusions of EuropaBON's newly launched User and Policy Needs Assessment. The analysis includes data from more than 350 experts in policy, science and environmental protection.

Consistent, high-quality biodiversity data is needed to meet the goals of the EU's 2030 Biodiversity Strategy and other relevant policies. This data would also help policymakers and scientists develop evidence-based targets and progress reports for conserving and restoring ecosystems and their services. In the report, EuropaBON also presents a list of the 15 highest ranking Essential Biodiversity and Essential Ecosystem Service Variables (EBVs and EESVs), including their current monitoring status across European countries.

Preprint citation:

Moersberger H, Martin JGC, Junker J, Georgieva I, Bauer S, Beja P, Breeze T, Brotons L, Bruelheide H, Fernández N, Fernandez M, Jandt U, Langer C, Lyche Solheim A, Maes J, Moreira F, Pe'er G, Santana J, Shamoun-Baranes J, Smets B, Valdez J, McCallum I, Pereira HM, Bonn A (2022) Europa Biodiversity Observation Network: User and Policy Needs Assessment. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e84517

EurekAlert News release:

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/948305

Download as PDF:

Europa Biodiversity Observation Network: User and Policy Needs Assessment

Cover of the User and Policy Needs Assessment

RIO collection for EuropaBON

by Jessica Junker

We are happy to announce that, after an initial screening process, the RIO (Research Ideas and Outcomes) editorial office has approved our application for opening an article collection for EuropaBON. You can access the EuropaBON collection here. (doi: 10.3897/rio.coll.145).

As a first publication in our collection, we submitted the EuropaBON Grant Proposal, which can be accessed in ARPHA Preprints via this link (doi: 10.3897/arphapreprints.e81207). To increase transparency as well as facilitate communication and dissemination of project results, we will link all documents produced by EuropaBON via this website to the EuropaBON collection.

So keep watching this space for new EuropBON articles to come out!

MarBioME - Marine Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe

by Alice Soccodato

On 17 January, 2022, we kicked-off a new project, called MarBioME - Marine Biodiversity Monitoring in Europe. This 6-month study is funded by the European Commission and aims to provide a holistic and global review of European marine biodiversity projects and monitoring programs, and collates information on marine biodiversity research gaps.

More than 200 European- and 300 international biodiversity monitoring programs are in place to date. It is therefore essential to ensure that the various monitoring efforts, stakeholders and networks are brought together. The results of MarBioME will form the basis for future European marine monitoring projects, identify possible future research directions, prioritize and guide additional monitoring efforts to fill data gaps, and support policy.

Participants of the kick-off meeting for the new project called MarBioMe

This ambitious study is coordinated by the AIR Centre in partnership with EuropaBON, EuroSea, and MBON. Watch this site for upcoming news on this project!

For more information on MarBioMe, please contact Jessi Junker at jessica.junker@idiv.de

1st showcase workshop on operationalization of EBVS/EESVs

by Néstor Fernández

Between 17 to 19 November 2021, EuropaBON held the first project-organized workshop to demonstrate the operationalization of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Essential Ecosystem Service Variables (EESVs) for policy through so-called showcases, which are examples that show how EuropaBON could contribute to various major environmental policies of the EU.

The workshop took the form of a hybrid event, where more than 30 people participated online and around 30 more gathered physically at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in Leipzig, Germany. The three-day event, which was led by the project coordinator Prof. Henrique Pereira and the leader of WP5, Dr. Néstor Fernández, gathered both EuropaBON partners, as well as external members.

A part of the participants gathered physically at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) in Leipzig, Germany

The main purpose of the workshop was to bring together researchers involved in the EuropaBON showcases with stakeholders including scientists, data providers and end users of the data products to be developed. Moreover, the event ceased to provide guidance as to how best to produce the EBVs/EESVs for each of the policy showcases. More specifically, the meeting focused on designing workflows from biodiversity observations to biodiversity models and EBVs/EESVs, to supporting policy decisions.

After three days of insightful presentations and discussions, the first EuropaBON showcase workshop was deemed a great success, as it allowed all of the participants to discuss new EBVs and EESVs from various European Directives and biodiversity indicators across these directives for further biodiversity monitoring. Since several partners and some of the invited stakeholders attended this event in-person, this also for the first time provided opportunities for exchanging thoughts and ideas in a relaxed and more personal setting.

Invitation to provide feedback on EuropaBON's User and Policy Needs Assessment

by Hannah Moersberger

EuropaBON is inviting all interested stakeholders to provide expert feedback on its draft User and Policy Needs Assessment by30 November 2021. The Assessment is the first major deliverable of EuropaBON and will lay the foundation for co-designing the European Biodiversity Monitoring Network. This assessment will guide EuropaBON in selecting thematic, taxonomic and geographical monitoring priorities and identify good practices for mobilizing and harmonizing monitoring data. It has been based on thematic surveys, stakeholder interviews, and two successful meetings in May and September 2021.

We welcome everyone's feedback on this report, as it will set the stage for the rest of the EuropaBON project. Uploaded below is the current draft of the report as PDF file. Feedback can be annotated in the review table as Word document. Please send your comments back to info@europabon.org.

The formal consultation period of the Assessment will be open from 16 to 30 November 2021.

PDF User and Policy Needs Assessment_Draft-Nov2021.pdf

DOCX ReviewTable User and Policy Needs Assessment.docx

EuropaBON at the ENETWILD second annual general meeting

by Jessica Junker

Today, EuropaBON project coordinator Henrique Pereira presented on the need to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem data streams to support policy at the ENETWILD second annual general meeting.

Additional talks on the Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) approach adopted by EuropaBON to address user needs, as well as on European monitoring of wild birds were presented by Nestor Fernandez (lead of WP5 to demonstrate the operationalization of EBVs and EESVs for policy through so-called showcases) and Lluis Brotons (lead on Task 5.1 BON in support of the Birds Directive), respectively.

EuropaBON project coordinator Henrique Pereira (MLU) presents on the need to integrate biodiversity and ecosystem data streams to inform policy.

Workshop: EuropaBON Showcases

17th — 19th November 2021 at iDiv

On 17-19 November, 2021, EuropaBON will be hosting the first of two workshops to demonstrate the operationalization of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Essential Ecosystem Service Variables (EESVs) for policy through so-called showcases, which are examples that show how EuropaBON could contribute to various major environmental policies of the EU.

This invite-only event will bring together EuropaBON researchers involved in the EuropaBON showcases with stakeholders including scientists, data providers and end users of the data products to be developed. The aim of this workshop is to provide guidance as to how best to produce the EBVs/EESVs for each of the policy showcases. More specifically, this meeting aims to design workflows from biodiversity observations to biodiversity models and EBVs/EESVs, to supporting policy decisions.

The workshop, which will be a hybrid event, will take place at iDiv, Leipzig, Germany. An agenda can be found below. For more information, please contact nestor.fernandez@idiv.de.

Agenda for Workshop: EuropaBON Showcases (click to enlarge)

EuropaBON is seeking expert opinions

by Cher Chow, University of St Andrews

Our work package 4 researchers are currently working on identifying and assessing novel technologies and methods as part of our consortium's biodiversity monitoring co-design. We are currently at the stage of consulting a wider swathe of experts to help identify and assess any developing areas of tech or new methodology we may have missed in our initial searches. If you know of any under-utilised methods and/or new methods which can be used in biodiversity monitoring, please help us complete the survey below. This will be immensely helpful in our upcoming workshop to discuss the suitability of methods for Europe’s biodiversity monitoring strategy.

Complete the short survey here (approx 7 mins, multiple submissions allowed):

europabon.org/t/jtEv

Circulation of this survey within your respective departments and Twitter is welcome. Your help with this is greatly appreciated! If there are any questions regarding this survey or the upcoming workshop, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Maria Dornelas (maadd@st-andrews.ac.uk) or Cher Chow (fycc1@st-andrews.ac.uk).

Database to collect/record the main existing biodiversity data workflows

by Alejandra Morán-Ordóñez, CREAF

The EuropaBON WP3 has set up a web-based database to collect/record the main current biodiversity data workflows across Europe. This database will map how biodiversity data collected in monitoring schemes across Europe flows through different institutions and programs and gets processed to produce Essential Biodiversity Variables and other EU policy-relevant indicators. Some examples of EU level biodiversity data workflows are the reporting of the Habitats and the Water Framework Directives, the Wild Bird Indicators produced in the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme or the European grassland butterfly indicator produced in the European Butterfly Monitoring Schemes.

There are now two months left to complete this task (i.e., to comprehensively map biodiversity data workflows across Europe). We call on EuropaBON members to point us to current EU level biodiversity data workflows they know of and that we cannot miss. This database will serve as the basis to evaluate the current biodiversity observation capacity across Europe by identifying weaknesses, biases and good practices and successes.

If you are interested in helping with this task, do not hesitate to contact us! Contact person: Alejandra Morán-Ordóñez (a.moran@creaf.uab.cat)

EuropaBON's 1st stakeholder workshop

On the 26-28th May 2021, EuropaBON’s first stakeholder workshop had close to 350 registrants from 48 countries, and was attended by almost 250 participants from various fields including policy, academia and non-profit organisations.

The workshop’s first day featured a high-level policy event with speakers from the European Commission’s directorate level, including John Bell (Director, DG RTD.C - Healthy Planet), Humberto Delgado Rosa (Director, DG ENV.D - Natural Capital) and Giovanni De Santi (Director, JRC.D – Sustainable Resources), as well as two roundtable discussions on 1) linking to the Green Deal and 2) policy challenges, opportunities and needs and targets at national levels. Days 2 and 3 of the workshop consisted of more targeted and interactive sessions in small break-out groups. The key aim was to allow stakeholders to engage more actively in designing the Europa Biodiversity Observation Network by capturing their ideas and views.

The workshop’s full agenda, presentations and respective recordings can be found at https://europabon.org/1st-stakeholder-workshop.html

EuropaBON's expert meeting and survey

Following on EuropaBON's first expert meeting, on the 29th of September 2021, we will be hosting a further expert meeting.

This invite-only event will include representatives of relevant EU agencies (DG ENV, EEA, Eurostat, DG Agri, DG Climate, EBKC, REAS, European Biodiversity Partnership), as well experts involved in national/regional biodiversity monitoring from all European member states (including the Eionet National Focal Points). The meeting aims to address biodiversity monitoring data needs in Europe, including current policy roadblocks and potential solutions to them. The meeting will be focused on the preliminary results of a survey on biodiversity data uses and policy needs that has been distributed to the workshop invitees at the beginning of August.

To complement the answers provided through the survey, semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders will be conducted in preparation for the expert workshop. Based on the information gathered through these surveys, interviews and the two stakeholder meetings, EuropaBON is currently drafting a User & Policy Needs Assessment that will be circulated to institutional stakeholders for input and comments prior to being submitted to the European Commission at the end of November 2021.

Find the meeting's agenda here!

Why become a EuropaBON member?

During registration, members can choose to be regularly informed about important news, including latest project results and products, upcoming project activities and important events by receiving our quarterly EuropaBON newsletter. In addition, the newsletter also serves to report on the latest activities, events and achievements of the EuropaBON members network to foster new connections among the different institutions, projects and initiatives and to re-initiate existing links.

Members that want to become more deeply involved and actively engage in the various project tasks and activities, have the option to accept invitations to review documents, participate in surveys and targeted interviews, and participate in workshops soliciting feedback and capturing responses with various digital tools. For example, EuropaBON`s User & Policy Needs Assessment Report underwent an extensive public review process and benefited from over 300 comments from members in 31 countries and ten European Commission services.

EuropaBON stands for Europa Biodiversity Observation Network and as such, we wish to promote networking among our members as much as possible. The contact database therefore exists in two versions: an internal database available to EuropaBON`s core members, and a publicly available GDPR compliant version for those who consent to this, available via the project members website. Here, members can search, as well as contact other members and communicate with them via our new chat function!

Become a member

Mission

EuropaBONs mission is to overcome existing data gaps and workflow bottlenecks by designing an EU-wide framework for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services. EuropaBON will use state of the art models to produce essential variables to integrate different reporting streams, data sources, and monitoring schemes. These essential variables provide consistent knowledge about multiple dimensions of biodiversity change across space and time. They can then be analyzed and synthesized to support decision-making at different spatial scales, from the sub-national to the European scale, through the production of indicators and scenarios.

EuropaBON will work with stakeholders to identify user and policy needs for biodiversity monitoring and investigate the feasibility of setting up a center to coordinate monitoring activities across Europe. Together with stakeholders, EuropaBON will assess current monitoring efforts to identify gaps, data and workflow bottlenecks, and analyse cost-effectiveness of different schemes. The results of this assessment will be used to inform the design of improved monitoring schemes able to integrate in-situ and remote sensing data through models, and using novel technologies, to deliver more complete and less biased biodiversity information with multiple benefits to users and society. A set of EuropaBON showcases will demonstrate how the EBVs and EESVs provide timely and relevant data for EU member states and regions, including policy-relevant indicators to assess progress in biodiversity targets, short-term biodiversity and ecosystem services forecasts, and scenarios that support IPBES and other assessments.

Objectives

EuropaBON aims to:

Engage users at the regional, national and European level to identify the data needs of policies and targets aligned with the new European Green Deal, such as the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, Habitats Directive, Birds Directive, Water Framework Directive, Climate Strategy and Ecosystem Restoration goals, the Bioeconomy Strategy, and national and EU wide initiatives on natural capital accounting.

Adapt the generic Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) and Essential Ecosystem Services Variables (EESVs) and their characteristics (spatial, temporal and biological entity, scope and resolution) to address the specific user needs.

Survey existing monitoring initiatives, including long-term ecosystem monitoring and monitoring that responds to regulations (directives and strategies), remote sensing and citizen science, and assess how they can contribute to producing comprehensive biodiversity information under the EBVs and EESVs frameworks.

Identify gaps in the current monitoring of European biodiversity, including thematic, taxonomic, geographic and temporal gaps, and how novel technologies and modelling approaches can assist in filling those gaps.

Analyze the pathway from data collection to knowledge production in order to identify good practices, bottlenecks and limitations on the mobilization and harmonization of monitoring data to publicly accessible infrastructures and on their policy uptake.

Co-design workflows needed for a more integrated biodiversity observation network that can close gaps and reduce bottlenecks, in dialogue with data producers and users to support EU policies and targets. For the first time, workflows will be proposed for a wide range of EBVs at the European scale including the biodiversity monitoring protocols, modelling tools available, and analytical steps required.

Assess cost-effectiveness of existing monitoring schemes and of the new monitoring design (including benefits related to ecosystem services, as well as co-benefits on education, Common Agricultural Policy goals, and business opportunities) with EBVs and EESVs workflows implemented at different levels of ambition.

Demonstrate in a set of policy-oriented showcases how such EBVs and EESVs workflows allow the integration of different data streams and thus provide timely and relevant data across the EU member states and regions, including indicators to assess policy targets and ecosystem condition, current trends, short-term biodiversity and ecosystem services forecasts for the public, and support the development of long-term scenarios in IPBES and other initiatives.

Mobilize a coalition of key players in national and EU level bodies to establish the ToR for a permanent Biodiversity Monitoring and Coordinating Centre that will implement and oversee a European Biodiversity Observation Network.

Project coordination

EuropaBON is coordinated by the project coordinator Henrique Pereira, the scientific coordinator Jessica Junker, the senior scientist Miguel Fernandez, the administrative coordinator Karolin Dietrich/Annett Masur, programmer and web-designer Christian Langer at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), as well as Camino Liquete from the Joint Research Council. The coordination team also includes Sigrid Köhne and Claudia Weinhold-Kiefhaber, who provide administrative and financial support from MLU’s EU-office.

Geographic distribution of the partners and their thematic expertise

Illustration of work packages and tasks and how they link/interrelate

Privacy Policy

EuropaBON is a project by the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig.

iDiv is a central facility of Leipzig University.

The privacy policy of iDiv applies to this website.

Main responsibility for this website

Henrique Pereira (Project coordinator)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: hpereira@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733137

Responsibility for the content of this website

Jessica Junker (Scientific coordinator)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: jessica.junker@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733123

Webdesign / Programming

Christian Langer (Programmer)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: christian.langer@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733141

Site notice

EuropaBON is a project by the German Centre of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig.

iDiv is a central facility of the Leipzig University within the meaning of Section 92 (1) of the Act on Academic Freedom in Higher Education in Saxony (Sächsisches Hochschulfreiheitsgesetz, SächsHSFG). It is run together with the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, as well as in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ.

iDiv is a research centre of the DFG.

iDiv is a central facility of Leipzig University.

Main responsibility for this website

Henrique Pereira (Project coordinator)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: hpereira@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733137

Responsibility for the content of this website

Jessica Junker (Scientific coordinator)
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: jessica.junker@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733123

Webdesign / Programming

Christian Langer
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: christian.langer@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733141

Liability for contents and links

iDiv shall not be liable for the accuracy of the contents, for editorial and technical errors, for completeness, for omissions, for updating or for any similar aspects of its website. The use of the available information shall be at the user’s own risk. Although we carefully check their contents, we cannot assume any liability for the contents of external links to third-party websites. Such websites and their contents shall be subject to the liability of their owners. Please inform us of any errors in terms of contents or technology using the special e-mail address for this purpose: jessica.junker[at]idiv.de

Data protection provisions

iDiv shall protect the privacy of all people using its website. Any personal data provided shall be treated as confidential and not passed on to third parties.

Use of images:

Unless otherwise stated, iDiv has the rights to the images on the pages of the EuropaBON website. The transfer of image usage rights is available upon request. The images may not be used for other purposes, e.g. commercial purposes. Please contact us by e-mail: jessica.junker[at]idiv.de

Header image:
© Sasa Kadrijevic
Title: Extremely detailed and realistic high resolution 3D image of ISS - international space station orbiting Earth. Shot from outer space. Elements of this image are furnished by NASA.
Source: Adobe Stock

Page image:
© Oliver Thier
Title: Blick ins Tal

Logo design:

Christian Langer
German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig
Puschstrasse 4
04103 Leipzig, GERMANY

Email: christian.langer@idiv.de
Tel.: +49 341 9733141