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Global Monitoring Program for Biodiversity in Catalonia (SISEBIO)

GreenBiodiversity preservation
By project BID-REX
Publication Published on 19 December 2018
Location
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Spain
Cataluña
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.

About this good practice

Managers need to know if their decisions and management and biodiversity conservation instruments are effective and sustainable. Biodiversity monitoring programs can become tools for the improvement of decision making and for the knowledge of the public in general, if they are optimally related to environmental policies.SISEBIO is a knowledge tool for biodiversity in Catalonia, based on the monitoring of changes in the composition and structure of communities and long-term and regional-scale habitats. SISEBIO must allow the analysis of cause-effect relationships between the factors of change and the dynamics, processes and functioning of ecosystems.
SISEBIO's main product is the generation of a set of universal indicators of biodiversity changes based on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) of communities representing the trophic levels in the most representative habitats of all the media in Catalonia. This task is developed by the coordination of various monitoring programs. In SISEBIO, the SOCC, CBMS, IFN and CHC programs have been integrated to monitor birds, butterflies, forests and habitats respectively, which are currently being developed in the terrestrial environment, as well as biodiversity monitoring as a result of compliance of the Water Framework Directive. At the same time, SISEBIO is promoting the creation of new biodiversity monitoring programs whose follow-up is absent.

Expert opinion

Inadequate knowledge and poor access to data were identified in the comprehensive evaluation (Fitness check) of the Birds and Habitats Directives as obstacles to their implementation. This practice is a positive example of a knowledge tool which is based on the monitoring and analysis of changes in biodiversity and regional-scale habitats. The analysis of these changes informs the decision-makers on the status and trends in ecosystems which is important for designing appropriate policies. Therefore, the tool can serve as an inspiration to other regions aiming to improve the quantitative understanding of the status and changes in ecosystems and improve monitoring of species and habitats. Specifically, regional public authorities in charge of providing information as per the requirements of the Nature Directives may further study the set of universal indicators of biodiversity changes based on essential biodiversity variables (EBVs) as well as the various monitoring programmes that were integrated in the tool.

Resources needed

The annual budget of the project is aproximately € 400,000.
In addition, the project uses data from other projects, such as those derived from the forest inventory or the monitoring of water quality and control, financed by other administrations.

Evidence of success

Partial data obtained from the monitoring of birds or butterflies, indicate the usefulness of monitoring groups with a great bioindicator potential, in order to know the treds of the natural heritage in Catalonia. Specifically these data indicate the alarming decline in specialized species in open spaces, or the constant loss of population, mainly due to the impact of droughts.
When the global project will be in operation we can have a broader view of these trends.

Potential for learning or transfer

As already mentioned above, SISEBIO is a knowledge tool for biodiversity in Catalonia, based on the monitoring of changes in the composition and structure of communities and long-term and regional-scale habitats. The observation and analysis of these changes through the development of a set of indicators may have an important interest for other regions for several reasons: first, in order to be able to respond to the question of politicians and society in general How are our ecosystems responding to global change? Secondly, this knowledge should facilitate the implementation of public and private policies that can correct the negative trends observed. Finally, the project can also help to answer many data requested by the European Commission in the assessment every six years, of the state and monitoring of the European directives of nature (art 12 directive birds, art 17 directive habitats) and Natura 2000 network. This aspect, obviously, can be also of interest to other regions.

Good practice owner

You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.

Organisation
Organisation

Regional Government of Cataluña

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Spain
Cataluña
Contact
Tags
International
Biodiversity