The fifteenth meeting of the CBD Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) was an extremely successful event for the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership. The meeting which took place from the 7-11October 2011 in Montreal, Canada saw the adoption of several recommendations including the recommendation on the ‘Indicator Framework for the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets’. This high profile recommendation which will be taken forward to the next meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) includes numerous references and mandates to the BIP and the continuation of its work.

 The BIP Secretariat and a number of its Partners will be present at CBD SBSTTA 15 held from the 7 – 11 November in Montreal, Canada. Parties will cover recommendations for a number of agenda items including the new Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the relevant indicators for monitoring progress towards the Strategic Goals and Aichi Targets.  This discussion is of particular importance to the Partnership and the Secretariat will be on hand to follow the discussions as they develop. 

 Assisting companies to report their links to and dependence upon ecosystems such as freshwaters, soil fertility and pollination services is the focus of a new publication released today by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) and CREM.  

The report funded by the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership and GEF, suggests a series of indicators that organizations could use to assess and report their impacts on ecosystem services.

 The BIP has worked as part of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) project to show the feasibility of establishing linkages between different types of indicators to provide decision-makers with the tools they need to tackle biodiversity loss effectively. The most recent output is an article in the journal Orynx.

The Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Indicators for the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 took place from 20 to 24 June 2011 in High Wycombe, UK. The objectives of the AHTEG included the provision of advice and guidance on the development of an indicator suite for assessing progress towards the Aichi targets. A number of BIP partners participated in the AHTEG and also the International Expert Workshop in support of the workshop which was held in parallel and served as a resource for the AHTEG.  The report from the AHTEG is now available and includes 13 recommendations on indicators which will be reviewed at CBD SBSTTA 15 in November.