Sharing Knowledge with Danish Parliament
We have introduced #CommunityBasedMonitoring, #CitizenScience and the CBD #COP15 Global #Biodiversity Framework to the Danish Parliament's Environment and Food Committee.
Together with 194 other countries and the EU, Denmark has agreed to The Kunming-Montréal Global Biodiversity Framework Agreement. This new global biodiversity agreement sets ambitious goals and targets for reversing the decline in biodiversity. The agreement encourages governments to support Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen Science for implementing, and tracking the implementation of, the agreement.
Speaking on behalf of 42 organisations in Denmark, we proposed the development of a National Strategy for involvement of citizens in biodiversity monitoring and natural resource management for instance through Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen Science as part of the Danish follow-up to the Global Biodiversity Framework.
International experiences suggest that efforts for improving biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management can be effective if the citizens and their knowledge, observations and perspectives are systematically included, e.g. through Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen Science. The 42 organizations behind the presentation include fishermen, hunters and agricultural advisers as well as nature organisations, universities and industry.
Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen Science programs involve citizens, including fishermen, farmers, hunters, those particularly interested in nature and other users and managers of nature's resources - and their knowledge, observations and perspectives – actively in efforts for sustainable natural resource utilization and nature conservation.
Experience shows that such involvement, in addition to contributing important knowledge, can activate an untapped potential for change 'from below' and therefore has great potential for creating positive changes for people and nature. Community-Based Monitoring and Citizen Science cannot replace conventional authority- and researcher-based biodiversity monitoring, but constitute an important supplement. The text of the agreement reads: "6. Invites Parties and relevant organizations to support community-based monitoring and information systems and citizen science and their contributions to the implementation of the monitoring framework for the Kunming-Montreal global biodiversity framework”, see the full text here: Kunming Montréal global biodiversity agreement Monitoring Framework.
More information:
Gitte Kragh (E-mail: gitte@citizenscience.dk) and Finn Danielsen (E-mail: fd@nordeco.dk).
