Five recommendations to fill the blank space in indicators at local and short-term scales

Abstract

The year 2030 is rapidly approaching. Building, monitoring, and reporting indicators to evaluate the 2030 targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is a major challenge that requires, at minimum, nations to assess their progress at least once within the next five years. To effectively monitor this progress, we need indicators that capture fast-paced, on-the-ground biodiversity change at the scale of conservation action, alongside slower, more diffuse biodiversity trends at national scales. We argue that the focus on monitoring global and national biodiversity changes has left a gap in our ability to capture fine-scale changes and therefore our progress towards the GBF's Goal A targets. To fill this blank space, we recommend integrating locally sourced data into biodiversity indicators, testing indicator performance at relevant spatiotemporal scales, monitoring locally and strategically to detect changes across scales, and developing indicators of fine-scale biodiversity changes.