1. GEO BON Support for SDGs
ISRSE37
Tshwane, South Africa
8-12 May 2017
Gary N Geller
GEO Secretariat, &
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
California Institute of Technology
Laetitia Navarro
GEO BON Executive Director
 © 2017 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged

2. GEO BON Overview The problem
Biodiversity and the services it provides to society is being greatly impacted by human activities
Ex: forest loss, ocean food chains, coral reefs…
GEO BON Mission
To improve the acquisition, delivery and application of information on biodiversity change for decision-makers
Who is GEO BON for?
National governments: to help them meet their SDG and other MEA obligations
Natural resource managers at all scales
Researchers

3. Approach
Develop EBVs
Develop BONs

4. SDGs

5. Obvious GEO BON Relevance

6. Actual GEO BON Relevance

7. Biodiversity permeates many areas of importance to humans

8. Essential Biodiversity Variables
The key variables needed to understand the state of biodiversity and how it is changing
One of two GEO BON focus areas
(The other is development of Biodiversity Observation Networks…which make the actual measurements).

9. Policy Relevant Outputs
Targets
EBV Classes
2.4
2.5
Ecosystem structure
Ecosystem function
Genetic composition
3.D
Species populations
6.3
6.6
Species Populations
Ecosystem Structure
11.3
13.1
Species traits
14.4
14.5
15.1, 15.2,
15.3, 15.4,
15.5, 15.7,
15.8, 15.c
Ecosystem Function
Consistent with what was sent to PB in November
From GLOBIS-B workshop: SDG 2;3;13;14;15
One important thing to consider on the mapping of SDGs to EBV classes: in some cases, the expert opinion tells us that there is a link between the SDG and the EBV class, and therefore that the *goal* is supported--but it doesn’t mean there is a link to a specific indicator. This is the case for instance with SDG 3 and health: information on the distribution, population size, and traits (e.g. phenology) of vectors of disease could be used to produce early warning systems for the emergence of those diseases (Target 3D). Also for climate—while there may be no connection to the Indicators, there are connections to the goals—Net Primary Productivity and the biology that determines it is directly relevant to climate change and thus to 13.1.

10. Integrating Health and Biodiversity Monitoring
Nipah virus: Bats are a critical vector
Understanding bat distribution allows forecasting as the climate changes
Image: Shutterstock.
Here is an example.
Good information on species distribution (bats, in this case) can provide early warning to a health issue; Supports SDG #3
Pigs are everywhere so not the controlling factor.
This is the kind of work that EcoHealth Alliance does; GEO BON is working with them
Note: when the paper was produced, did not used EBVs per se explicitly.
Pteropus poliocephalus source: EOL
Species distribution EBV
Forecasting vector distribution
Source:
Source: Daszak et al. 2013, PNAS

11. What is Needed SDGs identify the problems we need to solve
Must understand the system behind those problems
…and collect the observations needed to monitor it
Most needed: Operational Biodiversity Observation Networks
BONs collect the observations
Government participation is key
BON development is a GEO BON focus area