EU Biodiversity Observation Coordination Center (EBOCC)

Current biodiversity monitoring data in Europe is insufficient to drive well-targeted actions that tackle biodiversity loss cost-effectively and at different scales. EBOCC’s mission is to coordinate biodiversity monitoring efforts in Europe and set up a shared European biodiversity monitoring framework. It will achieve this by supporting coordination between EU Member States and monitoring organizations, integrating monitoring data, implementing clear data flows, and analyzing information at EU level to derive indicators and support policies.

The project will contribute to make biodiversity data from all EU Member States more accessible and to enforce EU biodiversity policy implementation at the national, EU and global level, while reducing the administrative burden in Member States with regard to biodiversity monitoring and reporting for the Nature Restoration Regulation, the Birds and Habitats Directives, as well as the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. 

Under the lead of adelphi and together with the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) and the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke), among other partners, the Environment Agency Austria will provide the project management for the whole project and will lead to tasks:Data mobilisation and integration as well as Analysis and visualisation of biodiversity information.

Additionally, the Environment Agency Austria will provide thematic expertise on terrestrial habitats in support of all tasks and lead the technical work on training Member States on the implementation of pollinator monitoring under the European Pollinator Monitoring Scheme (EUPoMS).

The project will develop an overview over the existing monitoring and dataflow practice and standards in all Member States and make proposals for the harmonisation or, at least, interoperability of monitoring schemes and clear data flows of EU, national and local monitoring data for six thematic areas (terrestrial, freshwater benthic invertebrates, freshwater habitats, marine mammals and seagrass habitats) based on the proposal for EBOCC prepared by the scientific network EuropaBON, as well as provide support to the preparation and building administrative and technical capacity for implementing the pollinator monitoring method as set out under Article 10 of the Nature Restoration Regulation.

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