Citation
Overview
The pressing need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, as articulated by the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, demands a commensurate improvement in how we monitor, report, and act upon changes in the state of nature. This perspectives paper proposes a Biodiversity Monitoring Standards Framework, offering a structured pathway to address the longstanding challenges of fragmentation and inconsistency in biodiversity monitoring.
Abstract
Achieving the goals of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) requires monitoring systems that can transform heterogeneous observations into consistent, decision-relevant knowledge. Yet current biodiversity data are fragmented, uneven in quality, and seldom comparable across space or time. Existing standards such as Darwin Core, Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) and Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) principles provide important foundations, but they do not connect the full chain from field observation to policy reporting. We introduce the Biodiversity Monitoring Standards Framework (BMSF)—a unifying architecture that links ethical principles, standardized data collection, accredited analytical workflows, and transparent reporting into a single auditable “chain of evidence.” The framework’s novelty lies in its tiered and federated design, enabling national agencies, Indigenous knowledge holders, local communities, and private-sector actors to operate under shared principles while maintaining data sovereignty. By integrating Essential Variables, accredited analytical methods, and open-source implementation pathways, the BMSF allows locally generated data to be aggregated into credible, comparable indicators aligned with GBF targets. Concrete application, such as a national forest-connectivity assessment, demonstrates how the BMSF improves reproducibility, transparency, and policy relevance relative to existing approaches. Implemented generally, this framework would convert fragmented monitoring efforts into a coordinated, scalable system capable of tracking and guiding collective progress toward halting and reversing biodiversity loss.
This work reflects ideas and discussions that emerged from the US–UK Forum on Measuring Biodiversity for Addressing the Global Biodiversity Crisis, jointly organized by the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society.