Workshop Proceedings Executive Summary

Biodiversity is defined as "the variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia [among other things], terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are a part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems." - United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

The accumulated loss of species threatens to reduce global biodiversity, alter the structure and functioning of most ecosystems, and thereby compromise the ecosystem services required by all life on earth (IPCC 2007). Ontario faces many of the pressures that threaten biodiversity globally, including: rapid human population growth, and associated land use changes, habitat loss and fragmentation, climate change and cumulative effects, pollution, unsustainable use, invasive species, has disrupted ecosystems globally and is a major threat to species.

Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy (2005) aims to conserve Ontario's biodiversity so that a healthy environment, strong communities, and thriving economy are realized. The strategy involves protecting Ontario's diverse ecosystems and species of flora and fauna, as well as using Ontario's natural resources in a sustainable way.

Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy first proposed the Ontario Biodiversity Science Forum, the purpose of which is to focus the science agenda and foster science partnerships by identifying knowledge gaps and recommending science priorities in areas such as:

• Improving our understanding of ecosystem functions and relationships

• Evaluating existing and aiding the development of new habitat/ecosystem and species/population management guides, best management practices and other conservation tools

• Improving our understanding of the economic and non-economic valuation of biodiversity

• Identifying gaps in available expertise and recommending solutions to address such gaps

• Providing direction to science needs and initiatives to support biodiversity conservation

• Supporting enhanced science transfer and training

On 4 May 2009, more than 80 participants from the biodiversity community, including: industry, academia, government (all levels), environmental non-governmental organizations, conservation authorities, research community, and planners, met to share and discuss the state of biodiversity science and knowledge, and critical gaps in Ontario.

These proceedings list the program as it unfolded over the day and include summaries of presentations and discussion sessions that occurred at the end of each theme. The workshop consisted of three themes: 1) Setting the context - Science needs of policy 2) Tools for using science, and gaps in science; and 3) Where do we go from here?

Several common themes and policy recommendations emerged from the workshop and the white paper presented. In summary, they were:

1. Develop better tools for measuring biodiversity: Benchmarks/ indicators/ monitoring protocols

2. Address the biodiversity knowledge gap

3. Address the biodiversity implementation gap

4. Continue to develop Ontario's Biodiversity Strategy

5. Address the social and economic influences on biodiversity conservation

6. Pursue an ecosystem approach

7. Strengthen integration between science and policy

8. Engage and educate the public on biodiversity relevance and issues

Details of the common themes and policy recommendations can be found in Key Findings section of this document.

Goals of the Workshop >>