Evariste Rutebuka

Urban Biodiversity and Ecosystem Indicators: Linking Local and Global Reporting

My research is investigating biodiversity and ecosystem indicators that can be widely adopted by cities worldwide to inform local actions and enable reporting to global frameworks. Some of those frameworks are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), System of Environmental-Economic Accounting Framework (SEEA), Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and others.

The project has two major components

  1. Understand existing challenges and limitations of urban biodiversity indicators and their links to national and global proposed frameworks from biodiversity practitioners (Science and Policy Interface)
  2. Testing feasibility of potential urban biodiversity indicators for multiple cities: A rigorous scientific study evaluating a subset of biodiversity indicators against criteria from practitioners and scientific evidence (Quantitative analysis).

The end objective is to identify a set of urban biodiversity and ecosystem indicators that account for existing limitations and current and future needs of policymakers whilst also providing robust information about the biodiversity and ecosystem services for cities around the world.

Get involved

  • Participate in the online survey (Science and policy Interface component) and share through your network.
    Access the survey here
    Research ethics for this component is available here
  • Subscribe to the research mailing list here to stay connected and receive project updates

Biography

Since 2018 I have been providing technical support through the Global Practice program of the World Bank in a range of countries of Asia and Africa. This includes spatial analyses and policy reports linked to Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Landscape Assessment (BELA), Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), Land Degradation Assessment (LDA) and Natural Capital Accounting. I also contribute to projects focused on cities and biodiversity, including:

– Identifying potential quantitative targets and indicators for consideration in the 2027 Nature in the City Strategy for the City of Melbourne

– Improving our understanding of how people connect with nature in Melbourne across multiple life stages

This PhD research is supervised by

Dr Amy Hahs, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences

Dr Judy Bush, Melbourne School of Design

Contact

For further information please contact Evariste Rutebuka at erutebuka@student.unimelb.edu.au

 

 

 

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