Forest Biodiversity Indicators - synthesis of the knowledge resulting from the French National Research Programme "Biodiveristy, Forest Management and Public Policies"
BGF
Geographical coverage
| Geographical scale of the assessment | National |
|---|---|
| Country or countries covered | France |
| Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name |
Geographical scale of the assessment
National
Country or countries covered
France
Any other necessary information or explanation for identifying the location of the assessment, including site or region name
Conceptual framework, methodology and scope
Assessment objectives
This project aims to :
- to give a global view of existing approaches to assess forest biodiveristy through indicators for researchers and forest managers;
- to underline the need to developp new set of indicators responding to precise political objectives;
- to promote the link between ecologic and socio-economic communities;
- to refine the efficiency of existing forest biodiversity indicators;
- to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from research to society.
Mandate for the assessment
Funded by :Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy (MEDDE) and The Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries, Rural Affairs and Spatial Planning (MAAF)
Managed by: GIP ECOFOR, a French public platform whose members are research and forest management organisations
Conceptual framework and/or methodology used for the assessment
Other (please specify)
European Environment Agency (EEA)
URL or copy of conceptual framework developed or adapted
http://ia2dec.ew.eea.europa.eu/knowledge_base/Frameworks/doc101182/
System(s) assessed
- Forest and woodland
Species groups assessed
Ecosystem services/functions assessed
Provisioning
Regulating
Supporting Services/Functions
Cultural Services
Scope of assessment includes
Drivers of change in systems and services
No
Impacts of change in services on human well-being
Yes
Options for responding/interventions to the trends observed
Yes
Explicit consideration of the role of biodiversity in the systems and services covered by the assessment
Yes
Timing of the assessment
Year assessment started
2006
Year assessment finished
2012
If ongoing, year assessment is anticipated to finish
Periodicity of assessment
Unknown
Assessment outputs
Website(s)
This assessment was carried out during the national research programme "Biodiversity, forest management and public policies"
The dedicated website of the programme aims to present: - the current projects (abstracts, researchers,…); - the calls for research proposals, reports on completed projects; - the program bibliographic references,…
Communication materials (e.g. brochure, presentations, posters, audio-visual media)
Journal publications
Training materials
Other documents/outputs
Tools and processes
Tools and approaches used in the assessment
- Indicators
- Social (non-monetary) valuation
Process used for stakeholder engagement in the assessment process and which component
organization of stakeholders meetings, funding specifics scientific studies
Key stakeholder groups engaged
The number of people directly involved in the assessment process
10-100
Incorporation of scientific and other types of knowledge
- Resource experts (e.g. foresters etc)
Supporting documentation for specific approaches, methodology or criteria developed and/or used to integrate knowledge systems into the assessment
Assessment reports peer reviewed
Yes
Data
Accessibility of data used in assessment
Policy impact
Impacts the assessment has had on policy and/or decision making, as evidenced through policy references and actions
it was used in few national working groups : - French Observatory for Biodiversity (ONB): thematic meetings about forest and biodiveristy - sustainable forest management indicators: group about biodiversity criteria
Independent or other review on policy impact of the assessment
No
Lessons learnt for future assessments from these reviews
cf the conclusion article p. 141
Capacity building
Capacity building needs identified during the assessment
Actions taken by the assessment to build capacity
Network and sharing experiences, Access to funding, Workshops, Communication and awareness raising
How have gaps in capacity been communicated to the different stakeholders
Knowledge generation
Gaps in knowledge identified from the assessment
Among the gaps identified:
- very few functionning ecosystem indicators available ;
- very few forest species monitoring and the species monitored are not always the most relevant for assessing forest biodiveristy evolution;
- lots of indicators do not respond to clear political objectives;
- At first, the national forest biodiversity indicators aimed to assess sustainable forest management rather than forest biodiveristy
How gaps in knowledge have been communicated to the different stakeholders
Organisation of scientific meetings: - to support the projects and promote scientific interactions. - to involve stakeholders (policy makers, foresters, NGOs,…) from the start and integrate their recommandations. - to identify new research issues (transversal workshops), …
