Delegates from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, South Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus have taken further steps on the development of indicators and information systems that can help report on progress towards implementing biodiversity-related conventions.

UNEP held a regional workshop on strengthening synergies and indicators in National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs), used to implement the Convention on Biological Diversity, on 30-31 March in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Participants focused on the extent and management of protected areas, which in previous workshops had been identified across all sub-regions as an area where common indicators are needed.

During the meeting, delegates were introduced to a framework for information systems needed to produce indicators. Another session focused on data collection and management, in which participants identified key challenges and successes. Further sessions focused on communicating indicators and the support countries would require in order to incorporate ecosystem services into their NBSAPs.

Representatives from the NBSAP Forum and the Ramsar Convention on wetlands meanwhile shared various forms of support for countries in updating and revising their action plans.

The workshop was developed in partnership with the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre and was closed by Jan Dusik, Director of the UNEP Regional Office for Europe; UN Resident Coordinator Fiona McCluney and Andrej Lakić, Head of International Cooperation at Montenegro’s Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.

This meeting was organised under the ‘Strengthening MEA synergies and indicators in NBSAPs for the Pan-European region’ project funded by the European Commission’s Thematic Programme for Environment and Sustainable Management of Natural Resources including Energy fund, with contributions from UNEP. The project aims to strengthen NBSAP implementation by improving synergies between Multilateral Environment Agreements and the reporting process and by developing effective indicators in the pan-European region.

For more details write to thierry.lucas@unep.org and maria.morgado@unep.org