Side Event: GEOGLOWS and the Harmonization of GEO Water Activities Freshwater BON Erin Hestira, Eren Turakb,c, Aaike De Weverd, Jeanne Nele, Ian Harrisonf aUniversity of California Merced, Merced, CA USA bNSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Sydney South, Australia cAustralian Museum, Sydney, Australia dOD Natural Environment, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium eSustainability Research Unit, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, George, South Africa fConservation International, Arlington, VA USA Side Event: GEOGLOWS and the Harmonization of GEO Water Activities

Mission / Objectives and Goals Freshwater BON Mission / Objectives and Goals What is it? The FW BON is a voluntary community of practice that promotes the establishment of best practices for tracking change in global biodiversity of inland waters. Vision for 2020 A network of experts and practitioners capable of making a global assessment of status and trends of freshwater biodiversity possible so that progress towards the 2020 targets of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) can be measured accurately with respect to inland water habitats.

Freshwater BON Geographical Scope Promoting best practices: Improve harmonized data collection  Develop data standards and methods for data management and dissemination Facilitate data sharing Integrate biodiversity information with physical and chemical data Produce products useful for sound management of catchments, rivers, lakes, wetlands and subterranean aquatic ecosystems. FWBON Membership

Freshwater BON Planned Activities Harmonize tools, methods and approaches to facilitate globally consistent assessments of freshwater biodiversity Assist in mobilizing freshwater biodiversity data globally Support IUCN’s Red list of Ecosystems team, especially in the development of global classification of freshwater ecosystems Support its members in developing monitoring programs, applying for funding, and publishing their work Support GEOBON’s Working Groups and Regional and National BON’s Work with other GEO freshwater groups GEOGLOWS, GEOWetlands, AquaWatch and other global initiatives e.g Global Wetlands Observing System, Sustainable Water Futures Project

Plans and Deliverables for 2018-2019 Freshwater BON Plans and Deliverables for 2018-2019 Deliverables Macroinvertebrate and fish sampling protocols Use of indigenous and local knowledge Data mobilization eDNA, algae, zooplankton, phytoplankton fungi and periphyton sampling protocols Harmonized observations of reptiles, mammals, birds and amphibians Harmonized protocols for eco-acoustic monitoring General Plans Grow and activate the network Globally harmonized sampling protocols Indigenous and local knowledge Data mobilization Global classification of FW ecosystems

Plans for cross SBA linkages and SDG support Freshwater BON Plans for cross SBA linkages and SDG support Links to other SBAs or initiatives Potential links to the Sustainable Water Future Programme Information will be useful to assessing Aichi Targets; Ramsar Convention goals Contributions to SDGs SDG Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements SDG Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species Challenges and Opportunities EWVs and ECVs needed to track drivers in biodiversity Cross –linking EBVs with EWVs GEOGLOWS and the Harmonization of GEO Water Activities

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