Representatives from six South-Eastern Europe countries have met to work on a common set of indicators for preparing and reporting on National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia were represented at the sub-regional workshop, which took place in Belgrade on 22-24 April, was hosted by the Republic of Serbia and organised by UNEP together with UNEP-WCMC.

During the meeting, participants worked on developing a common set of indicators by identifying priority areas, commonalities and overlaps between countries’ indicators. Next steps will include collecting and harmonizing data across the region.

As a result, an agreement in principle will be discussed with fellow sub-regions Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Southern Caucasus so as to reach a regional agreement on the indicators this November, back-to-back with the 7th Biodiversity in Europe Conference.

Participating countries agreed that this work will be useful to successfully harmonise and report on common biodiversity indicators. Sharing good examples, experiences and lessons learnt supports the development, production and use of indicators by pooling information and technical support from other countries and institutions. Harmonised indicators will furthermore provide a powerful communication tool geared towards decision makers and increasing public awareness on biodiversity.

This event was organized as part of the Strengthening MEA synergies and indicators in NBSAPs for the pan-European region project, funded by the European Commission with contributions from UNEP’s Environment Fund.

Work in harmonising biodiversity indicators takes place as part of the Pan-European 2020 Strategy for Biodiversity, endorsed by the region as a response to the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

For more information: thierry.lucas@unep.org and maria.morgado@unep.org