MONITORING THE BIODIVERSITY IN THE ALPINE REGION: STRATEGIES AND PERSPECTIVES OF HARMONIZATION   2nd Report of SAPA Network

The 2nd Report of the SAPA Network "Monitoring the biodiversity in the Alpine region: strategies and perspectives of harmonization” is a further step forward on the harmonization of methods for biodiversity monitoring in the Alps.

The report includes contributions from the Network and scientific bodies (such as ISPRA, Federparchi and Eurac Research), under the coordination of the Italian Delegation to the Alpine Convention – Italian Ministry for the Environment, supported by the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention. The report is divided into three thematic sections that provide a basis for the harmonization of biodiversity monitoring within the SAPA Network.

Aiming to optimize the potential of data and procedures for biodiversity monitoring and address the question on data validity and comparability on a larger scale, the SAPA Network focused on monitoring as a priority working topic. Protected areas gained experience by adopting standard methods for collecting data for a long period of time, and their role is essential to meet the requirements of the National Guidelines on biodiversity monitoring. On biodiversity monitoring, the SAPA Network aims to implement the provisions of the Protocol of the Alpine Convention "Nature protection and landscape conservation". A first step is the study on the potential for harmonizing biodiversity monitoring and strengthening the ecological network, which analyzes the most significant procedures and protocols for monitoring biodiversity adopted by the Italian Alpine Regions and the protected areas of the SAPA Network, assessing their transferability to other contexts. Despite all the experiences in the Alpine bio-geographical region, the analysis confirmed a still incomplete effective application of the standards for monitoring as set by the National Guidelines. The overview on biodiversity monitoring delivered by the report also includes experiences on harmonization that can be the basis for a common path within the SAPA Network.

PART 1 BIODIVERSITY MONITORING METHODOLOGIES

For further information: SAPA Network – System of the Italian Alpine Protected Areas

www.areeprotette-sapa.it itadeleg.alpconv@gmail.com

The SAPA Network, which promotes collaboration between Alpine territorial bodies involved in the management of protected areas and scientific institutions, could play a flexible and informal role in the governance of natural capital in the Italian Alps, in line with the priority strategic objectives for the Alpine Region, primarily those of the Alpine Convention. In essence, biodiversity and landscape conservation activities and support for an adequate exploitation of ecosystem services include actions developed inside and outside protected areas, strengthening the role of the pilot regions for ecological connectivity, and cooperation for sustainable territorial development, also through the Alpine Biodiversity Board of the Alpine Convention. The SAPA Network therefore holds suitable instruments for affecting territorial policies for areas of intervention other than the protection of nature and biodiversity tout court and the ability to outline policies or implement measures in the Italian Alps. To start a common path towards the harmonization of biodiversity monitoring in the Alpine biogeographical region, the SAPA Network has promoted a draft agreement, which, by way of example, identifies the terms of the collaboration between the members of the Network, aimed in particular to set the ground for identifying suitable methods for sharing data among institutions.

PART 3 STRATEGIES FOR HARMONIZING BIODIVERSITY MONITORING

The study on procedures and protocols for monitoring biodiversity highlighted the need to restart from this framework of experiences to identify critical issues and opportunities regarding national reporting, pursuant to the Habitats and Birds Directives. To favor a comparison between alpine experiences, some “common areas of attention” have been identified, such as: training activities, monitoring methods implementing the national guidelines, purpose of monitoring, etc. The SAPA Network Expert Workshop (Milan, 8 May 2019) was aimed at sharing and discussing these experiences with experts involved at various levels in environmental monitoring activities. The workshop allowed to identify a selection of future priority actions for the Network, as a preliminary step to the definition of a common and shared system for monitoring, reporting and assessing biodiversity for the Alpine biogeographical region. Among them: identifying common and coherent objectives to assess the degree of conservation of biodiversity and the functionality of ecosystems and, therefore, to ensure coordination with the bodies responsible for data collection and harmonization. The experiences framed by the report highlighted as strengths an accrued awareness and spirit of collaboration at interregional, local and among neighboring parks. In perspective, biodiversity monitoring shall be based on a common vision for data collection methods, including qualitative and to be validated data, continue to invest in knowledge, and enhance previous collaborations.

PART 2 EXPERIENCES IN BIODIVERSITY MONITORING

MONITORING THE BIODIVERSITY IN THE ALPINE REGION: STRATEGIES AND PERSPECTIVES OF HARMONIZATION   2nd Report of SAPA Network