Conference Agenda

Indigenous communities manage millions of square kilometers of land that include some of the most biodiverse and ecologically intact parts of the terrestrial biosphere and increasing awareness has been placed on the need to collaborate with and equitably engage Indigenous communities and Indigenous scientists in land management and conservation. For genetic resources, the Nagoya Protocol has guided benefit sharing for over a decade, incentivizing parties to ensure prior and informed consent or approval and involvement when traditional knowledge is shared.

With the expanding role of Earth Observation (EO) technologies in biodiversity monitoring and a growing emphasis within government agencies on open science, it is essential to address the ethical, cultural, and legal dimensions of integrating Indigenous knowledge into these systems. This workshop will explore the critical concept of Indigenous data sovereignty, ensuring that Indigenous communities retain ownership, control, and access to their data in a manner that aligns with their values and rights. Participants will learn about real-world case studies showcasing collaborations where Indigenous communities and researchers have co-designed biodiversity monitoring frameworks that uphold Indigenous data sovereignty while enhancing scientific insights. We will discuss key aspects of ethical data practices, including the principles of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), the establishment of culturally sensitive data-sharing agreements, and the development of equitable partnerships that respect Indigenous data sovereignty. This workshop is designed for researchers, policymakers, and advocates dedicated to advancing ethical and respectful approaches to using Indigenous knowledge in biodiversity monitoring. This session aspires to create a foundation for lasting, respectful collaborations between Indigenous communities and the global EO research community in safeguarding biodiversity.

This demonstration provides a hands-on introduction to ConScape, an open-source library designed for high-resolution landscape connectivity modeling. ConScape offers a powerful solution for assessing connectivity across large, complex landscapes, allowing the leveraging of high-resolution satellite remote sensing (SRS) data for fragmented landscapes. Developed in the Julia programming language for optimal computational performance, ConScape allows for the rapid calculation of connectivity metrics, addressing critical challenges in biodiversity monitoring, conservation, and land-use planning.

Attendees will explore ConScape's diverse capabilities, from quantifying habitat connectivity and movement corridors to utilizing a randomized shortest paths framework for more nuanced connectivity analyses. Through practical exercises, participants will gain valuable insights into how ConScape can model connectivity in landscapes under pressure from habitat fragmentation and loss. Real-world case studies, such as the application of SRS data to track reindeer movement in Norway, will showcase the library’s potential for supporting conservation and restoration initiatives.

This session is ideal for ecologists, biodiversity scientists, and conservation planners seeking to integrate high-resolution spatial data into their workflows and leverage ConScape for data-driven decision-making in landscape connectivity, habitat conservation, and biodiversity restoration efforts.

The accelerating biodiversity crisis underscores the urgent need for effective strategies to conserve and restore critical ecosystems, especially wetland., Both inland and coastal wetlands support diverse species and vital ecological functions, provide a wide range of ecosystem services, offering increased resilience to global change for local communities.

This workshop explores how satellite-based technologies can play a pivotal role in supporting wetland mapping and restoration prioritisation efforts and addressing the biodiversity crisis by improving our understanding of wetland habitats. Leveraging high-resolution imagery and advanced analytical techniques, earth observation (EO) and geotechnologies offer unique capacities to monitor wetlands and provide information supporting biodiversity monitoring and enabling conservationists, policymakers, and land managers to make informed, timely decisions.

This workshop seeks to foster open dialogue among scientists and practitioners, exploring current practices, identifying remaining challenges, and highlighting research opportunities to better harness satellite technology for wetland monitoring locally and globally.

The workshop is divided into two sessions.

· The first session focusses on key global conventions and policy instruments for protecting and restoring wetland ecosystems. It will highlight the role of EO tools in assessing and restoring wetlands, emphasizing national wetland inventories and regional and global mapping initiatives, including links to the Global Biodiversity Framework, National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

· The second session addresses the policy context in Europe with special attention to the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 and the Nature Restoration Regulation. Based on case studies, the participants will discuss EO applications to support habitat restoration, mitigate habitat loss, and strengthen EU biodiversity policy frameworks.

The expected outcomes include:

· Workshop summary reporting on priority topics identified by the workshop participants

· Short paper on the identified priorities and recommendation for future direction on developing EO technologies in support of policy-relevant information, with open contribution from all workshop participants

Description: If you work with individual monitoring data of plants and animals, you have probably wondered: How do I predict changes in community or population dynamics beyond my study site? This hands-on demonstration bridges the gap between local monitoring and landscape-scale predictions. Through worked examples in R, you will learn to integrate individual plant monitoring data with satellite remote sensing to forecast biodiversity dynamics across multiple scales over space and time.

We will guide you through the process of combining fine-scale biological monitoring with satellite data to predict population and landscape changes under various environmental scenarios. You will gain practical experience in joining different data types and building streamlined prediction workflows. You will explore how these dynamic workflows have the potential to improve over time, offering increasingly accurate predictions as more data becomes available. As a highlight, you will participate in Europe's one of the first biodiversity forecasting challenges, where you can submit and evaluate forecasts using our real-world use case.

Using R, Git, and Github, you will gain experience in designing automated workflows that continuously update biodiversity models with new data. We will conclude by exploring future directions for satellite-biodiversity data integration and identify priorities for improving spatiotemporal predictions through better models, data collection, and integration frameworks. Prior knowledge in R, Github account and your personal computer are required if you would like to participate in the forecasting challenge.

Focusing on ‘biodiversity finance’, our objective is to elicit opinions on the current challenges and opportunities for implementing EO to support nature finance mechanisms (e.g. credits, bonds, debt for nature swaps, investment portfolios).

We start by presenting an outline of (a) the state of nature finance, and (b) identified needs for scaling and monitoring/reporting on nature finance mechanisms. Then, we invite participants into groups to explore several topics:

• Outline of existing use of EO (especially biodiversity metrics and associated datasets) to meet MRV and other requirements for nature finance;

• Refinement, in which these existing approaches are discussed in terms of both current critiques, and by challenges associated with using them in different habitats/geographies; and,

• Consideration of opportunities for current and emerging EO methods that take us beyond these limitations

Back in plenary, we match the outcomes of smaller group discussions against recent reviews of challenges and opportunities for nature finance more broadly – discussing areas of overlap, and any major gaps. As part of this facilitated discussion, we look forward to opportunities associated with forthcoming launches (e.g. ESA CHIME 2029).

Expected outcomes: Workshop outcomes will be to map and rank current and forthcoming opportunities for EO to support nature finance applications; by suitability, feasibility, and desirability. The report would also discuss how these apply across geographies, and for the private vs the public sector, including reflection on models by which the wider community can interact across sectors.

The report will feed into the newly launching LEON project (January 2025), which seeks to match those approaches suggested by the EO community with the needs of the finance sector – so BioSpace25 comes at the ideal time in the emergence of this exciting new area of research.