* InWEnt-Capacity Building International Germany, South Asia Regional Office, 21, Jor Bagh, New Delhi-110003. India, Email: neerajkhera@gmail.com.
† Countdown 2010 – an initiative of IUCN-International Union for Conservation of Nature, Regional Office for Europe, Boulevard Louis Schmidt 64, 1040 Brussels, Belgium, Email: swinkler007@gmail.com, Andras.KROLOPP@iucn.org.
Triggered by the unprecedented loss of biodiversity, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the 2010 biodiversity target, that is, “to achieve, by 2010, a signifi cant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional, and national level, as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefi t of all life on Earth”. This target is now being revised as a post-2010 target. Whatever the target may, be- 2010 or beyond, the challenge step is to put mechanisms in place to track progress towards the targets. There is a large body of trend indicators as well as response indicators for assessing progress towards the target. In this paper, based on a conceptual framework and available information, we reviewed the existing scenario on the biodiversity targets, which resulted in a set of criteria and a set of policy-relevant research questions to be further developed as policy-response indicators for assessing progress that the countries are making towards achieving the biodiversity targets. The criteria and research questions are grouped under four policy areas: implementation mechanism of global biodiversity conventions at the national level; integration of biodiversity into policies and programs of other sectors; public awareness and support, and availability of resources to work towards the targets. These indicators need to be measured at national level and monitored globally.
