On 18/01/2024 the EC Knowledge Centre for Biodiversity (KCBD) hosted a webinar on genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity framework (GBF) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Under the recently adopted GBF, the 196 Parties have committed to report on the status of genetic diversity for all species. To facilitate this reporting, three genetic diversity indicators have been developed by researchers and practitioners and have been included in the Monitoring Framework of the GBF. These indicators are designed to secure maintenance of genetic diversity within and between populations. The indicators are:

1. The proportion of population within species with an effective population size (Ne) >500 (measures within population genetic diversity)

2. The proportion of populations within maintained within species (measures between population genetic diversity)

3. The number of species and populations being monitored with DNA-based methods.

The webinar consisted in presentations of scientists from the Coalition for Conservation Genetics, G-BiKE and GEO BON who have been highly active in defining and promoting the above mentioned genetic diversity indicators to report under the GBF. The Q&A session of the webinar was particularly useful to better establish connection between the science and policy on the topic of genetic diversity indicators.

Find out the recording of the webinar here.