The UK biodiversity indictors, developed to report on progress towards meeting the targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) including the new Aichi targets agreed in 2010, have been comprehensively reviewed during 2011 and 2012. The review involved wide consultation with the UK Biodiversity Indictors Forum, involving key stakeholders, and aimed to ensure they continue to be based on the most robust and reliable data, and remain relevant. A number of refinements have been made to existing indicators, improving their relevance, and addressing issues relating to data quality and availability. New indicators have also been identified for targets with no previous indicators.
The refined biodiversity indicators will contribute towards the UK’s 5th National Report to the CBD in 2014 and implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020. Ongoing and further review will be required to ensure continued relevance and reliability, particularly as the reporting requirements of the EU Biodiversity Strategy and the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive are clarified. The updated indicators and the assessment process can be viewed here.