The European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity

The European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity (ETP/BD) is one of six topic centres set up by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to support its outreach activities on the environment in Europe in support of policy implementation. These topic centres are appointed for a period of three to five years by way of a call for proposals procedure at a European level.

The ETC/BD is a European consortium of scientific institutions working in the field of biodiversity, led by the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle. It is coordinated by an international team based at the Muséum and receives financial support mainly from the European Environment Agency and the French Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.

The ETC/BD interacts with a wide network of European collaborators, particularly with national nature and biodiversity reference centres which act as the link, on a national level, with local and regional data providers.

The mandate of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle as ETC coordinator in charge of the biodiversity topic has been renewed five times since 1995. It has been renewed for the 2014 - 2018 period.

Activity programme:

  • provide scientific and technical support to the Member States of the European Union and the European Commission for the implementation of the Birds and Habitats Directives (constitution of the Natura 2000 network, guidelines and tools for the Member States to report on the conservation status of species and habitats of Community interest)
  • contribute to the implementation, by the European Environment Agency, of the European Biodiversity Data Centre. This specifically includes data collected under the Birds and Habitats Directives and from the development of biodiversity indicators (SEBI 2010 programme), with special emphasis on the spatial dimension of data
  • for the collection of such data, develop and consolidate partnerships with members of the EIONET network (European Environment Information and Observation Network), the scientific community and European and international governmental and non-governmental organisations
  • develop a high capacity of expertise in the evaluation of the status and trends of biodiversity, as well as the goods and services provided by the ecosystems, particularly in view of the evaluation of the European biodiversity strategy for 2020.

To find out more about the ETC/BD, visit: biodiversity.eionet.europa.eu

Muséum contact:
etc.biodiversity [@] mnhn.fr