Programme element 3: Methodologies necessary to advance the elaboration and implementation of criteria and indicators for forest biological diversity

Comments on question 16 (indicators)

National level:
Several universities and research institutes work on the issue of forest biodiversity indicators. For example, the Institute for Forest and Game Management has set up a project called 'Indicators for biodiversity in forests', within the framework of VLINA (Flemish Impulse Programme for Nature Development). The Walloon Region has integrated criteria and indicators for sustainable management developed within the framework of the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe in its permanent inventory of forest resources (see question 3).

An annotated list of indicators that are currently being used by Belgium as part of its monitoring process (including indicators for forest biological diversity) can be found in the 'Report on indicators for biological diversity in Belgium' compiled for the CBD Secretariat, online at:
http://bch-cbd.naturalsciences.be/belgium/contribution/indicators/indicators.htm

Regional level:
Belgium participated in the work of several initiatives:

• The BEAR project (Biodiversity Evaluation Tools for European Forests) aimed at developing an integrated system of indicators of forest biodiversity that are applicable over a wide range of European biogeographic regions, and at the national/regional, landscape and stand level.
• In the framework of the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), Belgium contributed with a report on the use of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. This report was presented at the Third Ministerial Conference in Lisbon (1998).
• In the same framework, Belgium is involved in the work for improvement of sustainable forest management indicators, which include indicators specific to biodiversity.

Global level:
Belgium participated on a voluntary basis in the testing of the indicators for sustainable development, coordinated by the Commission for Sustainable Development. The report is of this initiative is being compiled by the OSTC and should be available in 2002.

Comments on question 17 (taxonomic studies and inventories)

Good taxonomic tradition and a lot of inventory information exist in Belgium, including in forest ecosystems. There are regular surveys on a regular basis of many taxonomic groups, including birds, insects, mammals and plants. Biodiversity monitoring programmes and inventories are mostly carried out in the regions. They involve universities and regional institutes, together with the help of the federal scientific institutes (e.g. Botanical Garden, recently regionalized to the Flemish Region, and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences). The two federal institutes also harbour comprehensive taxonomic expertise.

Flanders:
Nature and biodiversity monitoring is coordinated by the Flemish Institute of Nature Conservation and the Institute for Forestry and Game Management. Detailed information on biodiversity in Flanders can be found in the 'Nature report 2001' at http://www.instnat.be/nature_report/publications/.

Wallonia:
The 'Observatory of Fauna, Flora and Habitats' coordinates the collection and analysis of biological diversity data. The Observatory works in close collaboration with a network of naturalists, scientists and officials of the Nature and Forestry Division. Forest biological diversity monitoring is carried out through the 'Permanent Inventory of Forest Resources' (see question 3). Detailed information on biodiversity in Wallonia can be found on the 'Biodiversity Information Server of Wallonia' at http://mrw.wallonie.be/dgrne/sibw/ and in the 'State of the Walloon Environment 2000' at http://environnement.wallonie.be/eew2000.

Brussels:
The Brussels Institute for Management of the Environment collects and analyses environmental data for the Brussels Capital Region. Temporal inventory have been carried out for the following groups: higher plants, bryophytes, macro fungi, mammals, herpetofauna, avifauna. Online information is available in the 'State of the Environment 1999' at http://www.ibgebim.be/francais/pdf/Donnees/EE_96_99_FR.PDF.