A baseline for measuring progress
30 July 2010. Europe’s failure to halt biodiversity loss by 2010 was partly caused by gaps in available knowledge about the state of biodiversity in Europe and the absence of easily quantifiable targets. The Biodiversity Baseline launched at Green Week by the European Environment Agency (EEA) is intended to solve these problems and provide policymakers with a starting point for measuring the state of biodiversity inside the EU and unveiling major information gaps. It provides a framework for articulating linkages between species numbers, habitats status and ecosystem services, and uses facts and figures that are scientifically robust and have been validated and/or peer reviewed in the Member States.
In the Baseline information on species and habitats is organised into main ecosystem types (coastal, wetlands, grasslands, forests and so forth). After 2010, these data, which will be regularly updated, will provide a clear historical record of progress. Most importantly, the baseline will also provide information on ecosystem services. The baseline will be fully developed before the end of the year and will support the development of biodiversity sub-targets to be set by the forthcoming revised EU biodiversity policy.
Photo by Carlos Romao
