A study published in Nature Sustainability underscores the importance of citizen involvement in successfully addressing global biodiversity loss. It outlines methods to enhance participation in biodiversity monitoring, emphasizing the role of indigenous people, local communities, and other citizen groups in tracking progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goals and targets. The study shows that Citizens can provide over half of the data needed to monitor progress on global biodiversity goals.
The study highlights that increased citizen involvement in the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) would leverage local knowledge to address data gaps and improve local and national decision-making. The GBF seeks to reverse nature's decline by requiring governments to report on 23 targets and four goals, promoting community-based monitoring and citizen science to enhance decision-making and conservation support. An assessment found that 110 (30%) of the 365 GBF indicators could involve Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and citizen scientists, while 185 (51%) would benefit from citizen data collection. Although fewer indicators are suitable for citizen monitoring compared to previous frameworks due to the complexity and legislative requirements, the study shows that greater citizen involvement could lead to more effective conservation actions.
An article about the Study with examples can be found here: Citizens can contribute towards more than half of the data to track progress on global biodiversity goals - UNEP-WCMC
