Earth observation (EO) is transforming biodiversity monitoring and understanding, yet the challenges in meaningful and timely integration of EO data with in situ biological and ecological measurements are non-trivial. This session is open to anyone interested in contributing to the forthcoming book “Biodiversity Insights from Space”.

We will discuss the utilisation of EO data for biodiversity monitoring in different biomes, using a multitude of metrics and indicators relevant for different reporting and understanding of biodiversity status. Proposed contributions can be from case studies exploring how EO could be used for biodiversity management, understanding ecological processes, and detecting responses and resilience in biodiversity. Speakers will share insights into calibrating EO data with in situ data, handling data to achieve standard quality requirements, uncertainty estimates and propagation, and working across different spatial and temporal scales. The session will also address how EO-derived indicators can support national reporting for the Kunming‑Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework and guide biodiversity management.

The session will be interactive. Following short oral presentations, an open forum will identify unresolved methodological challenges, such as detecting stress responses of different magnitudes or capturing below‑ground processes. By bringing together contributions from remote sensing, ecology, conservation and policy, the session will build a diverse team to ensure that the book provides comprehensive information on using EO data to monitor biodiversity change, address conservation targets, and inform management decisions. We will ensure and encourage diversity in geography, career stage, and discipline.

With the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the EU Nature Restoration Regulation setting ambitious targets for agricultural landscapes too, robust and scalable monitoring of farmland biodiversity is more important than ever. Comprising cropland and grassland, agriculture covers 37% of the Earth’s surface and 39% of Europe, making it a key driver of biodiversity loss as well as a habitat for many species. Effective monitoring systems are essential for guiding sustainable agricultural management, informing policy and linking agricultural practices to measurable ecological outcomes.

This session will explore practical and innovative indicators and metrics for farmland biodiversity, with a focus on novel technologies that improve monitoring and standardise data collection. Contributions may include traditional field-based methods, as well as cutting-edge technologies such as satellite or airborne remote sensing, passive acoustic monitoring, environmental DNA (eDNA) and artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted species identification. These technologies can provide rapid, cost-effective and scalable biodiversity assessments. We particularly welcome contributions that link these indicators to agri-environmental policy instruments such as result-based payment schemes, to global biodiversity targets or to sustainability certifications.

By showcasing scalable monitoring strategies and highlighting how data can be translated into actionable guidance, this session aims to bridge science, policy, and practice. We encourage contributions that connect farmers, nature conservation organisations, researchers, and policymakers, and that identify pathways to integrate farmland biodiversity monitoring into broader biodiversity observing systems.

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a global agreement to protect and restore the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystem services, outlines four long-term goals to be achieved by 2050. Goal A is centered on protection and restoration of natural ecosystems, whereas Goal B emphasizes the sustainable use of nature and ecosystem services management. Despite known relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services, it is difficult to account for these connections at large spatial and temporal scales. It is therefore challenging to develop indicators to monitor changes in ecosystem functions and services from data sources currently available, although there have been recent advances. This session will forge stronger links between Goals A and B of the GBF, which require appropriate indicators for harmonized modeling and policy responses. These links should explicitly address dependencies between retention of biological diversity (Goal A) and ecosystem services (Goal B). In addition to monitoring, projections of human and ecological futures that account for relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services could help inform decisions aimed at achieving the 2050 GBF goals. Presentations in this section could address recent advances towards modeling of these linkages either spatially or temporally. For example: What approaches can be used to develop linked indicators between goals A and B, based on historical relationships, or documenting current trends and future projections towards achieving the 2050 vision of “living in harmony with nature”? How can we monitor ecosystem service changes in a consistent way across the globe, especially when many service benefits are localized?

Animal movement data often provides dynamic, high-resolution insights into ecosystem processes and conservation needs. These data are particularly valuable for capturing near real-time, spatially explicit processes, individual-scale mechanisms, and transnational ecological phenomena that are often missing from traditional biodiversity monitoring frameworks. Yet despite their potential, movement data remain underutilized in reporting workflows for multilateral environmental agreements. This session will explore the growing potential for animal movement ecology to inform biodiversity monitoring and decision-making across scales. We will examine the benefits of incorporating movement-based metrics into indicator frameworks and highlight ongoing efforts to develop and operationalize suitable animal movement traits for biodiversity monitoring. Topics may include trait-based approaches, integration with global data repositories, applications to connectivity metrics, and case studies demonstrating applications at national or international scales. Through a series of presentations and facilitated group discussions, we aim to surface innovative approaches, identify key challenges, and build momentum toward a more coordinated and impactful use of animal movement data in biodiversity monitoring. We welcome contributions that bridge science and policy, demonstrate scalable methodologies, or offer insights into how movement data can inform conservation action and reporting at national and international levels.

Citizen science (CS) plays a core role in biodiversity monitoring, especially species-level monitoring. Besides data, CS engages society in conservation and creates pathways for transformative change. CS is, however, diverse. Some forms of CS have strict protocols; others are more flexible; while others are co-designed. These different types of CS are often associated with trade-offs for spatio-temporal data coverage and quality, as well as the breadth of engagement across society. Novel developments in CS practice, such as adaptive sampling, may help optimize such trade-offs by coordinating efforts. At the same time, technological innovations are rapidly expanding the range of topics that can be addressed with CS.
The opportunities of CS to fulfill the monitoring needs of the GBF are slowly being recognised. However, the role of CS in monitoring still varies across scales, countries and monitoring targets. The impact of CS is most diverse at the local scale, but successful integration of data into national and international scale analyses is still largely restricted to taxa such as birds and butterflies, especially in western countries. Successful case studies and tested workflows could offer templates for how CS could be applied elsewhere.

Here, we offer an interdisciplinary session about research and practice on CS as a tool for local and national biodiversity indicators. Relevant topics could include:
- Pipelines to translate CS data into indicators
- Examples of co-design or novel forms of engagement
- Approaches for including new tools and technologies
- Challenges and opportunities within different forms of CS
- Adaptive sampling or similar novel approaches for integrated monitoring
- Evidence on social outcomes from CS

Poaching remains one of the most pervasive and elusive drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide, yet its impacts extend beyond ecological disruption, influencing ecosystem functioning and posing risks to human health. Many endangered species have reached this status largely due to poaching and wildlife trafficking. This session will address the challenges of measuring poaching intensity and developing indicators that capture its direct and indirect effects on biodiversity and zoonotic disease dynamics. Integrative approaches combining in situ data, socioeconomic contexts and drivers, remote sensing, community-based monitoring, and forensic tools to quantify hunting pressure and its consequences will be welcomed, alongside discussions on methodological advances, data governance, and the development of standardized biodiversity and health metrics. The session aims to contribute towards the design of global biodiversity observation systems and indicator frameworks that support evidence-based conservation strategies and policy interventions at multiple scales.

Biodiversity is being lost at a fast rate, with global production, consumption and trade patterns as important drivers of biodiversity loss. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework has recognized this, with Target 15 calling for disclosure by companies of their biodiversity impacts and Target 16 ensuring that people can make sustainable consumption choices.
For this it is imperative to have tools in place that allow quantifying biodiversity impacts along value chains in a consistent way. In this session, we aim to have presentations about novel and promising approaches for how to assess biodiversity impacts along entire value chains on a global level. We encourage submissions across the terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms and we aim to have a breadth of possible biodiversity metrics and indicators included, such as indicators related to changes in species richness, functional diversity or ecosystem services.
We also call on contributions from a different range of stakeholders, from businesses to policy makers and the scientific community.

Chemical pollution, as one of the five key drivers of global biodiversity loss, is directly addressed in both the Kunming-Montreal Framework (Target 7) and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). However, integration of chemical considerations into biodiversity research and policy has been slow due to difficulties in predicting biodiversity impacts based on laboratory testing and exposure data, and a lack of standardized indicators and metrics suitable for different applications linking chemical pollution and biodiversity in the field. To address these challenges, we need to (i) develop efficient approaches for disentangling the individual contributions of chemicals and other drivers and (ii) establish relevant indicators and metrics of chemical pollution and biodiversity that should be both comprehensive and practicable to enable broad use by scientists, companies, and policymakers in monitoring and environmental assessments for biodiversity protection. We invite contributions from both fundamental and applied research that enhance our understanding of chemical impacts on biodiversity to guide efficient mitigation strategies. This includes, e.g., studies that investigate spatial or temporal links between pollution and biodiversity; advance mechanistic insights or model chemical impacts on biodiversity; translate ecotoxicological data into field-relevant biodiversity assessments; explore the interplay of chemical pollution with other global change drivers; and propose methodologies for assessing cumulative impacts. We seek to foster interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers, economists, and policymakers, aiming to generate actionable insights for managing chemical pollution within a broader sustainability and biodiversity conservation framework.

Fungi play crucial roles in ecosystems as decomposers of dead organic matter and through biotic interactions as parasites, pathogens, symbionts, etc. Thereby, they directly or indirectly influence the biodiversity of other groups of organisms. Despite their importance, major gaps remain in our understanding of fungal biodiversity and conservation. Partly as a consequence of these knowledge gaps, fungi have been underrepresented in biodiversity monitoring programs, conservation planning, and policy frameworks. Recent large-scale initiatives have confirmed the ubiquity and ecological significance of fungi and taken the first steps towards their systematic monitoring and conservation. Pioneering efforts — e.g. the integration of fungi into national Red Lists and biodiversity action plans in South America and Europe and the creation of KBAs based on fungi in Central Africa — demonstrate that progress is possible when science, policy, and conservation action align. In this session, we will discuss how to overcome knowledge and policy gaps related to fungal biodiversity and conservation, and how we can upscale and harmonize monitoring and conservation of all groups of fungi across different ecosystems and geographies. We also want to discuss how a fungal dimension to monitoring and conservation could benefit conservation overall, and explore how already established programs can be adapted to cover fungi. We also invite contributions and discussions on how novel technologies and approaches can be applied, and how we can ensure that this endeavour includes all elements of the global society. Contributions to the session can provide individual case studies or conceptual ideas, but they should contribute to improving biodiversity monitoring and conservation of fungi.

Remote sensing technologies are rapidly evolving, offering transformative opportunities for biodiversity science at scales from local to global. Advances in airborne and spaceborne sensors enable us to capture Earth surface and vegetation properties at unprecedented spectral, spatial, and temporal resolutions. Coupled with in situ data, species models, and artificial intelligence, these innovations open pathways to monitor biodiversity across structure, function and composition with great consistency and coverage.

Substantial progress is expected in the coming decade as next-generation Earth Observation missions, multi-sensor integration, and algorithm development converge. These advances promise more precise measurements of essential biodiversity variables such as ecosystem extent, structure and condition. Yet key challenges remain in translating electromagnetic signals into biologically meaningful metrics, scaling from field plots to global extents, integrating multi-source datasets while accounting for uncertainty, and aligning products with ecological theory, conservation practice, and global policy frameworks.

This session invites contributions that showcase how novel remote sensing and AI methods support biodiversity research and conservation. We particularly encourage studies that link remote sensing with in situ data, develop scalable approaches, advance ecological modelling to predict biodiversity change and its drivers, and demonstrate monitoring frameworks combining remote sensing, in situ networks and novel methods. By uniting advances in sensing technology and biodiversity science, the session will highlight how remote sensing can help contribute to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the SDGs, and other international targets.

Addressing the biodiversity crisis requires spatial data products to measure current state, assess trends, and evaluate scenarios for decision-making. Use cases range from global monitoring and national reporting to conservation prioritization and corporate disclosures. Today, massive volumes of heterogeneous data (eDNA, bioacoustics, citizen science, remote sensing, text and ecological networks) call for models that can leverage high-dimensional data to learn relationships between biodiversity, the environment and anthropogenic pressures, to create meaningful biodiversity indicators and impact metrics.

In this session, we deep dive into the state-of-the-art of spatial biodiversity modeling on local to global scales, ranging from populations through communities to ecosystems. This includes a multitude of models that integrate in-situ biodiversity data with remote sensing, such as species distribution models, macroecological models, natural value segmentation, causal inference methods, and beyond. It covers a broad spectrum of data-driven modeling techniques, from time-tested statistical models to modern deep learning frameworks that can facilitate learning across species and environments.

We will examine how such models can fuse multi-source inputs into ready-to-use metrics, such as species richness, community turnover, and functional diversity. Discussions will cover best practices for evaluation and uncertainty quantification, strategies to address gaps in biodiversity data, and the roles of data management, benchmarking and explainable AI in building transparent, trustworthy models.

Combining scientific talks, panel discussions and audience engagement, the session aims to identify current limitations of and outline key priorities for improving the state-of-the-art in this field.

Co-Convener: Tobias Andermann, Jan Borgelt, C. Vanalli, Sara Si-Moussi, Pierre Bonnet, Florian Hartwig

Achieving global biodiversity conservation targets requires massive spatial and temporal in-situ biodiversity data, which is still limited by the high cost and heavy workload of traditional sampling. In the past decade, environmental DNA (eDNA) has been widely used and become a standard method for aquatic biodiversity sampling. With high efficiency in data collection and processing, eDNA technology will be particularly helpful for biodiversity sampling in understudied areas, with the potential to promote the implementation of findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) sampling strategies. By compiling global eDNA databases following consistent protocols, scientists can analyze how the distribution of aquatic biodiversity at various levels (taxonomic, functional, genetic diversity) are attributable to drainage characteristics, climate and human impacts, and assess the spatial scale and magnitude of the land-water linkage of biodiversity across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, by combining with existing traditional biodiversity databases, the use of eDNA is expected to make an important contribution to the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

In this session, we will bring together scientists and engineers that work on or are interested in eDNA technology and its potential applications in regional to global biodiversity sampling. We will explore how to leverage the growing wealth of eDNA database resources to advance biodiversity research on a broader scale and provide reference information for effective decision-making.

Advances in sensing technologies, biodiversity modeling, and computational capabilities are enabling national-to-global time series of biodiversity-relevant products. While such products—such as Ecosystem Vertical Structure and Phenology—have been demonstrated regionally or for limited periods, they are not yet produced routinely at scales needed for biodiversity management and to develop robust biodiversity indicators consistent with the GBF.

A key barrier is reconciling resource limitations (computation, storage) with the absence of agreed specifications for spatial resolution, temporal frequency, and acceptable uncertainty thresholds that maximize their utility. Establishing these requirements would guide NASA and ESA in prioritizing investments and partnerships to operationalize production.

Following a plenary introduction, participants will join two breakout sessions.

Part 1 – Product Selection: Participants will select three operationally feasible products, each representing a biodiversity dimension—Structure, Composition, or Function (e.g., forest height, phenology metrics).

Part 2 – Requirement Definition: For selected products, participants will define desired and minimal requirements for resolution, temporal frequency, and uncertainty.
Expected Outcomes:
• Input to the Decadal Survey that guides NASA’s priorities in the next decade.
• Input to the ESA project “EO for Essential Biodiversity Variables and GBF Indicators.”
The overarching objective is the establishment of a portfolio of routinely produced, stakeholder-ready products—similar to MODIS but with higher spatial resolution and quantified uncertainties. This workshop builds directly on the BIOSPACE25 Conference and the CEOS/NASA/ESA workshop at the same venue.

Soil health is foundational to sustaining biodiversity, ensuring food, and water security, mitigating climate change, and supporting human well-being. Yet, despite the centrality of soil to multiple ecosystem services, comprehensive, policy-relevant indicators of soil health are basically missing or remain fragmented across regions and disciplines. This session, "Visions for Soil Health Indicators," brings together diverse perspectives from national and international soil monitoring initiatives to explore emerging frameworks for assessing and communicating soil health. Our aim is to catalyze a robust, interdisciplinary dialogue that connects cutting-edge scientific research with actionable decision-making.
Global efforts such as the European Union’s LUCAS Soil Survey, the Global Soil Partnership (FAO), Soil BON, the U.S. National Soil Monitoring Network, and regional observatories in Africa, Latin America, and Asia offer valuable insights into the development and implementation of soil health indicators. This session will convene speakers from a range of disciplines—including soil ecology, agronomy, environmental policy, and socioeconomics—as well as representatives from governmental agencies, international organizations, land-user groups, and Indigenous communities. Contributions will explore indicator design, data harmonization, scalability, and integration into global and national environmental assessments. Special attention will be given to how soil health metrics can support decision-making for safeguarding soil biodiversity and the ecosystem services it underpins. We welcome abstracts that address methodological innovations, stakeholder engagement processes, and case studies that demonstrate how soil monitoring translates into meaningful environmental governance.

Long-term biodiversity monitoring increasingly depends on technologies that can collect, transmit, and store data across diverse and often remote landscapes. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) offer powerful tools for in-situ environmental monitoring, enabling continuous, real-time tracking of parameters that indicate or affect the ecosystem health at a resolution and frequency that traditional surveys cannot match. However, designing and implementing these systems is complicated and the decision to adopt such systems often hinges on a clear understanding of the technology options, implementation and running costs, and the integration potential of the data into broader biodiversity health frameworks.

This workshop is designed for decision-makers, project managers, and conservation leaders seeking a practical, high-level understanding of wireless sensor networks. Rather than focusing on technical minutiae, we will explore real-world case studies, illustrate how different types of WSNs have been used in various contexts such as ecological restoration in conservation areas. We’ll also be broadly discussing the technical options that would need to be weighed for a given landscape and the approximate total implementation cost.

Participants will gain a high-level understanding of:
• Real world case studies of wireless sensor networks in a biodiversity monitoring context
• Technology trade-offs such as range, power, cost, and environmental robustness
• Total cost of ownership, including deployment, equipment, maintenance, and data management
• How to integrate sensor network data into a larger information system to quantify ecosystem health or impact of ecological restoration works

Total: 180 mins

SIGN-UP LINK: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdHH_dzgYWGbHtqVVCyQWOfwT5VCFJifhaPdGtkHyHf0m8THg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Animal movement is a fundamental component of biodiversity, shaping how organisms interact with their environment, access resources, avoid threats, and support ecosystem function. In a time of rapid environmental change, movement data—from individual paths to mass migrations—provide timely insights into species’ responses to shifting conditions. Yet, movement remains underrepresented in standardized biodiversity monitoring frameworks, limiting our ability to track spatial and behavioral responses and inform policy. Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) offer a global framework for translating ecological data into actionable indicators. While movement is a named component of the EBV framework, no standardized workflow exists to convert raw movement data into EBVs. This gap hinders integration into global assessments and the ability to capture dynamics across species and taxonomic levels. This workshop will bring together researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers to explore how movement can be better represented within the EBV framework—both as a distinct EBV and as a cross-cutting component informing other EBVs, Essential Ocean Variables, and biodiversity indicators. Participants will assess data from biologgers, radar, acoustics, and camera traps to identify biologically meaningful and technically feasible metrics. Workshop goals include clarifying movement’s role in EBVs, prioritizing key metrics, exploring data harmonization, fostering international dialogue, and supporting pathways to policy-relevant indicators. Expected outcomes include a refined conceptual framework, prioritized metrics and data sources, and recommendations for engaging movement scientists in indicator development.

SIGN-UP LINK: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/szRksryvLk

Fungi and other microeukaryotes (e.g., meiofauna) play pivotal roles in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. They contribute to nutrient cycling, decomposition, and food web dynamics (among others), and thereby to numerous ecosystem services. Yet, they are mostly overlooked in biodiversity monitoring programs. To address this oversight we need to i) improve coordination and standardisation of data collection, ii) make use of high-throughput technologies, including ‘omics, iii) establish comprehensive monitoring programs, that encompass a wide range of biomes, taxonomic groups, and spatial scales, iv) enhance data sharing and accessibility, and v) engage with policymakers and other stakeholders to ensure that monitoring efforts are aligned with their needs. One critical step towards these goals will be the development of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) for Fungi and other microeukaryotes. EBVs are priority variables designed to operationalise how changes in biodiversity across time, space, and biological level are measured and described. They bridge the gap between raw biodiversity data and derived policy-relevant indicators. This workshop aims at bringing together people, spanning a wide range of relevant backgrounds and expertise, to discuss the development and implementation of EBVs for Fungi and other microeukaryotes (180 min). The expected outcomes are i) a White paper on development and implementation of EBVs for Fungi and other microeukaryotes; and ii) the establishment of a novel cross-kingdom network of experts contributing to the development of EBVs for Fungi and other microeukaryotes.

This workshop explores the transition from basic biodiversity measurements to meaningful indicators and impact measures, with a particular focus on the role of species richness across ecological, food systems, and nutritional contexts. We begin by examining how species richness contributes to ecological function and multifunctionality, highlighting its alignment with dietary species richness, a concept increasingly recognized for its role in supporting human health and nutrition. Experts will present current evidence showing how species richness in production systems is associated with diversity in food supply, food environments, and dietary patterns. These findings provide insights into how biodiversity can be assessed across multiple levels. The workshop will also explore the divergence between production and supply diversity, and the role of trade and consumer demand in shaping food system biodiversity. Structured as a dynamic and interactive session, the workshop will feature short expert presentations, facilitated discussions, and breakout groups to build consensus on robust biodiversity indicators that inform impact assessments and policy decisions across ecology, agriculture, food systems, and nutrition.

SIGN-UP LINK: https://forms.office.com/e/qmJ1zPXauz

Biodiversity risks are increasingly discussed in finance, yet links to location-specific realities and robust metrics remain limited. Current practice relies on standardized proxies, leaving investors without tools to integrate biodiversity meaningfully into portfolio management. As a result, integration is fragmented and often based on top-down exposure estimates that lack the granularity and supply chain transparency needed for actionable decisions. This session introduces a spatially explicit approach to portfolio construction that uses geospatial biodiversity data and locally grounded indicators.
By overlaying biodiversity variables of specific sites with the geographies of companies’ assets, investors can better assess localized risks. Evidence from Central Africa shows FSC-certified forest firms deliver stronger biodiversity outcomes, with measurable benefits for large mammals compared to non-certified firms (Zwerts et al., 2024). Such methods enable investors to identify biodiversity “hotspots,” improve transparency, and move beyond broad industry exclusions toward targeted, risk-adjusted strategies.
A spatial approach strengthens comparability across firms, links biodiversity risk directly to financial materiality, and creates opportunities for stewardship through local engagement. Barriers such as limited data, interoperability, and governance can be addressed via collaborative data-sharing, partnerships with local stakeholders, and alignment with disclosure standards such as TNFD.
Building on Bio-Value-at-Risk (Posth et al., 2024), this session will explore how spatial biodiversity indicators can be embedded in financial markets while ensuring just outcomes for local communities.

Biodiversity loss is posing an existential threat to humanity. Averting the loss to improve biodiversity outcomes is deeply embedded in economic activities, and there is an urgent need to bridge the biodiversity finance gap, estimated at $700 billion annually. This need far exceeds public funding capacity, making private investment essential through different financial instruments (blended finance, nature credits, and debt-for-nature swaps). The physical risks of biodiversity loss become increasingly material (i.e., financial risk) for business and the economy, and pricing this risk is emerging in financial sectors such as insurance sector.
The effectiveness of these tools and instruments depends on robust, comparable, and scalable biodiversity metrics and standardized frameworks that are transparent, credible, and accountable to develop confidence in biodiversity market and financial sector.
Drawing on theoretical and empirical examples from diverse contexts, the session aims to foster cross-sector learning on what works, and what does not in developing biodiversity markets, and generating private finance to bridge the funding gaps.

We welcome contributions that focus on biodiversity finance and economics to address biodiversity measurement, market, and finance related topics in general. The specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
· How biodiversity metrics can be standardized for mainstream investment?
· Lessons from insurance in pricing biodiversity-related risks.
· Designing financial tools/instruments and their effectiveness and scalability to mobilize private finance while reducing corporate impacts.
· Lessons from biodiversity markets – key market determinants (demand- and supply-side factors), and policy innovations
· Integrating indigenous and local knowledge in biodiversity financing and financial products

We're proposing a workshop, but are flexible with the formatting based on programming. It could also serve as a panel/plenary session.

Duration: 60 minutes
Description: To bend the curve of biodiversity loss, collective accountability and effective action across sectors require a shared understanding of nature’s current state and trends. This session will examine progress toward a consensus on universal state-of-nature metrics - spanning terrestrial, freshwater, and marine realms - grounded in science yet designed to guide decision-making to achieve nature positive outcomes. Building on the Nature Positive Initiative’s work to align on universal indicators, including technical guidance, 2025 pilot program results, and crosswalks with standards, we will present emerging insights on how core metrics are converging across voluntary and regulatory initiatives through short talks and an interactive panel in partnership with TNFD, SBTN, GRI, and private sector contributors exploring: universal indicators and metrics representing the state of nature; what constitutes a scientifically credible and actionable nature-positive claim; how these metrics inform standard-setting, target tracking, disclosure, reporting, and financing; workshopping lessons from early piloting

Goals: Build a shared understanding of consensus on universal state-of-nature metrics; Showcase how metrics can be applied across sectors for reporting and decision-making; Identify pathways to mass adoption and alignment in the private sector

Outcomes: Shared understanding of current consensus on state of nature metrics; Practical insights on application across use cases; Clear opportunities for further alignment, implementation, and evolution; Opportunities for discussion on moving from disclosure to action

Mainstreaming biodiversity: implementing the GBF commitment into your company strategy (and make it work)

By Naturalis Biodiversity Center and Philips

Content of the session
Mainstreaming Biodiversity is a core element in the GBF (see targets 14-23). At the same time, the term is poorly understood, let alone that companies have specific tools, targets, and strategies on it, neither in their own organization nor across their value chain.

This workshop aims to:
1. Explain the term mainstreaming biodiversity (making the extraordinary ordinary) --> Naturalis
2. Explore challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming biodiversity in organizational contexts (e.g. standardizing biodiversity assessments, metrics in different regional contexts --> Philips
3. Reflect how mainstreaming barriers can be overcome with the audience --> both

In adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and its respective monitoring framework, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) committed to national goals and targets for biodiversity and to reporting on indicators of their progress. Earth Observation (EO) should be leveraged to support the calculation and observation of these indicators for purposes of monitoring and reporting on national levels. EO can further provide cost-effective, time-critical and spatially continuous input for the conservation of biodiversity worldwide.
Incorporating EO technologies and resulting information into the framework of the GBF requires close interdisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of knowledge among specialists of various backgrounds. Within this session, we aim to facilitate the exchange of ideas and collaborations among biodiversity practitioners, scientists (EO- and non-EO specialists), policy makers, and industry experts. We work toward filling gaps between the knowledge and technologies available to researchers and the information needed for large scale reporting. We invite abstracts that address current needs and gaps in biodiversity monitoring, that demonstrate the potential of EO technology to fill monitoring gaps, combine different data sources including remote sensing technologies for large scale biodiversity monitoring, and demonstrate current limitations. We welcome abstracts including but not limited to the GBF indicators, Essential Biodiversity and Ecosystem Variables, and for effective biodiversity conservation on large scales.

How can investors link capital to real biodiversity gains? This workshop defines investable evidence and shows how transparent measurement and data infrastructure make it bankable. We compare regulated compensation systems such as Germany’s eco-points (Ökopunkte/Ökokonto) with other emerging nature credits systems to clarify use cases, incentives, and risks. We then explore how continuous digital monitoring—satellites, drones, field sensors, bioacoustics, eDNA—and disciplined data management turn site-level observations into reproducible indicators, baselines, and performance triggers for contracts and portfolios. Short demos will illustrate (i) provenance-rich nature data management and QA/QC with Svarmi’s DATACT, (ii) high-integrity sensor networks from adjacent environmental markets as a blueprint for robust MRV, and (iii) market enablement via new entrepreneurial players in the nature credits market.
Outcome: a practical checklist investors and project developers can use to assess transparency, traceability, and long-term stewardship in nature deals.