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Filling the knowledge gaps - PEER ecosystem services project presented at Green Week, 3 June 2010

21 May 2010, Biodiversity and Land Use, PEER

Giovanni Bidoglio, JRC - IES's Head of Unit for Rural, Water and Ecosystem Resources will hold a presentation at the Green Week event in Brussels. The session 'Filling the knowledge gaps' will help to clarify by different speakers how research can be stepped up to fill the knowledge and data gaps, what action is needed to improve the dialogue between science and policy, and how basic science can be turned into operational measures. Bidoglio's presentation 'Spatial Mapping of Ecosystem Services for evidence based decision making' will include information on PEER's ongoing PRESS project.

A lake view.

Ecosystem services constitute the physical link between ecological systems and human economies. Photo: Markku Siitonen.

The Green Week conference is held 1-4 June in Brussels. This year, the largest annual conference on European environment policy turns the spotlight on biodiversity.

Over some 30 sessions, the conference will address the state of biodiversity and nature in Europe and the world, the benefits they bring, present-day pressures on them, and possible solutions to the current rates of loss. The path to be taken by EU policies on biodiversity and nature policies post-2010, the economic dimension of biodiversity, ecosystem services and Natura 2000 will also be investigated.

The session 'Filling the knowledge gaps', Thursday 3 June 16:30-18:00 in the Salon Rouge

"A great deal of information has been gathered since the 2010 target was adopted but significant gaps in knowledge and data remain at all levels. Data gathering, analysis and validation have not followed a comprehensive approach due to the complexity of biodiversity, which requires development of a set of inter-related indicators. In addition, reporting by Member States under the Birds and Habitats Directives has been uneven, as have biodiversity monitoring efforts.

A strategic plan to fill these gaps, in particular on the link between biodiversity, ecosystems and their services, needs to be adopted and supported with appropriate resources. As a first step towards filling this gap, the EU is engaged in a first European ecosystem assessment as part of the European contribution to the 2015 global assessment. At global level, the EU is supporting efforts to establish an Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which should help build strong consensus by validating the existing scientific evidence and contribute to mainstreaming and integrating biodiversity and ecosystem services into policy making processes.

This session will help to clarify how research can be stepped up to fill the knowledge and data gaps, what action is needed to improve the dialogue between science and policy, and how basic science can be turned into operational measures."

Speakers

  • Dr Anne-Helene Prieur-Richard, Deputy Director, DIVERSITAS, National Museum of Natural History, France
  • Giovanni Bidoglio, Head of Unit for Rural, Water and Ecosystem Resources, Joint Research Centre, European Commission
  • Prof Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Director for Biodiversity Conservation, Brazilian Ministry of Environment
  • Dr Sybille van den Hove, Director of MEDIAN, Spain

Moderator

  • Ladislav Miko, Director for Nature, DG Environment, European Commission

Contact (for PRESS project)

Giovanni Bidoglio, firstname.lastname@jrc.ec.europa.eu

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