This e-learning course on ‘Developing Biodiversity Indicators’, was developed by the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP) to provide guidance for national biodiversity indicator development and use.

Biodiversity indicators are key tools for monitoring and reporting progress towards objectives and targets, to enable adaptive management in implementing policies and action plans, and for raising awareness of an issue.

This course consists of six short lessons, each of which takes about 30 to 45 minutes to complete. These lessons are based on the guidance document, “Guidance for National Biodiversity Indicator Development and Use”, and on over ten years’ experience of the BIP, UNEP-WCMC and others.

The course focuses primarily on the development of biodiversity indicators at the national and sub-national scales, but the steps are relevant to those developing site-level indicators too. The first five lessons focus on national biodiversity indicator development in general, while the sixth lesson considers the role of indicators in updating countries’ National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).