Ethiopia’s Indicator report, entitled ‘Ethiopia: overview of selected biodiversity indicators’ is now available from the National Biodiversity Indicators Portal. The Ethiopian Indicator Report provides detailed information on the first biodiversity indicators produced by Ethiopia. The eight indicators were selected, following participation in the Biodiversity Indicator Capacity Strengthening in Africa Project, to assess and monitor biodiversity in Ethiopia’s diverse protected areas. Six of the indicators focus on the abundance and distribution of key mammal species found in Ethiopia, the majority of which are threatened with extinction. These indicators have enabled the population trends of these key species to be presented in a clear and concise way to national level decision makers. The remaining indicators provide decision makers with information on the land cover and land use for the whole country, including the coverage of protected areas.

On 9th November 2011, the Irish government launched “Actions for Biodiversity 2011 – 2016”, Ireland’s 2nd National Biodiversity Plan. Developed in line with EU and International Biodiversity strategies and policies, this plan outlines actions towards understanding and protecting biodiversity in Ireland and overseas. Progress towards each of the seven key Strategic Objectives and relevant targets will be monitored using the indicators listed in the Plan. A set of biodiversity headline indicators that will inform the public and decision-makers on the state and trends of biodiversity, pressures on biodiversity and the effectiveness of key policy measures will be in place by 2012.

The Eastern Africa Capacity Building Workshop on Information Use and Indicators in Updating NBSAPs was held on 27th-29th September 2011 at the Imperial Botanical Beach Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda. The overarching objective of the workshop was to strengthen capacity in the production of targets and indicators as part of the NBSAP updating process.