Key message: In the field of biodiversity, over 50 indicators have been developed
Assessment: Since the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2004 and the acceptance of the reporting structure according to the model: Actual factors – Pressure – Condition – Influence – Response, numerous indicators of environmental protection have been developed. In the field of biodiversity and nature protection, more than 50 indicators have been developed, in which the state of different parameters are being monitored in the yearly or perennial period.
The highest number of indicators serve for monitoring the status of species and habitats, as well as parameters of protecting and conserving biodiversity and nature at different levels.

Indicator Name: Number of biodiversity indicators in use
Institution/Author: Environmental Protection Agency/Slaviša Popović
Use and interpretation:
Key question(s) which indicator helps to answer: Number of indicators in the field of biodiversity
Use of indicator: to monitor state of biodiversity in Serbia
Scale of appropriate use: national
Potential for aggregation:
Meaning of upward or downward trends: In the field of biodiversity and nature protection, more than 50 indicators have been developed, in which the state of different parameters are being monitored in the yearly or perennial period.
Possible reasons for upward or downward trends: Since the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2004, and the acceptance of the reporting structure according to the model: Actual factors – Pressure – Condition – Influence – Response, numerous indicators of environmental protection have been developed.
Implications for biodiversity management of change in the indicator:
The highest number of indicators monitors the status of species and habitats, as well as the parameters of protecting and conserving biodiversity and nature at different levels.
Units in which it is expressed:
Number of indicators
Description of source data:
The Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is responsible for administration and policy development tasks in the field of environment, including biodiversity and nature conservation. In close cooperation with the MEP, there is a public administration authority, the Serbian Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), responsible for integrating data on environment and preparing reports on the state of environment in Serbia. Professional activities related to nature conservation and protected areas in Serbia are performed by the Institute of Nature Conservation of Serbia while for territory of Vojvodina Province these activities are delegated to the Institute of Nature Conservation of Vojvodina.
Calculation procedure:
The most important operational state institutions in the BIMR framework are SEPA, Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia and Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province. A significant number of teams and individual scientists operate at the University of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Niš, and their cooperation in Centre for Biodiversity Informatics can be a good starting point for centralisation of providing scientifically verified biodiversity data in Serbia. The BioRaS portal, managed by group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and technically supported by Petnica Research Centre, proved to be a robust platform for integrating civil society initiatives in biodiversity assessments and engaging general public in inventorying and monitoring of biodiversity in Serbia.
Based on the review of their legal responsibilities, recent activities and results, we enlisted stakeholders who are related to biodiversity, nature conservation or use of natural resources.
Overview of stakeholders by institution/organization type
Institution/organisation type Number
Governmental institution 6
Public institution 12
Public enterprise 12
Academic institution 18
NGO 24
International organisation 3
Religious institution 1
Company 14
Most effective forms of presentation:
Graph
Limits to usefulness and accuracy: The most numerous stakeholders are from the NGO and academic community that are also recognised as the most important stakeholders for collecting and structuring biodiversity data. Although most academic institutions are located in Belgrade, there are significant scientific bases in Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Niš. With more than 20 relevant organisations the NGO community seems strong with numerous volunteer base. Unfortunately, this is not a case. Most of the organisations that collect and process biodiversity data are with only a few members initiated by graduates of biology who have no other opportunity for finding a job.
Only a few organisations operate at the national level (Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia, NGO Habiprot and Scientific research student association “Josif Pančić”) and recruit a significant number of members that are collecting biodiversity data in the field. Others are local organisations with several volunteers that are frequently working in close cooperation with the local managers of the protected area.
Updating the indicator:
– yearly or perennial period.
Closely related indicators
Additional information and comments
Biodiversity data actually and potentially valuable for BIMR framework are from various sources and the most important in Serbia are (not in order of importance):
Data used in the Studies of protection, collected by experts from the Institutes for Nature Conservation in Belgrade and Novi Sad;
- Data of monitoring of target species, collected by experts from the Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina and Managers of protected areas;
- Data used for preparation of action plans for protection of large carnivores, collected and processed by experts from the Faculty of Biology in Belgrade, Institute for biological Research in Belgrade and Museum of Natural History in Belgrade;
- Data provided by the projects “Establishment of an ecological network in the Republic of Serbia” and “Development of the Red Book of Plants, Animals and Fungi in the Republic of Serbia”, compiled and verified by experts from Faculty of Biology in Belgrade, Department for biology and ecology in Novi Sad and Birds Protection and Study Society from Novi Sad;
- Data of rapid ecological assessment of Serbian natural assets, collected by academic institutions and NGOs and provided to managers of PAs;
- Data collected by experts from Universities in Novi Sad, Belgrade, Kragujevac and Niš and Institute for Biological Research, in the framework of scientific projects supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development;
- Data used for Fish stock management programmes, compiled by experts from Biological faculty in Belgrade, Institute for Multidisciplinary Research in Belgrade, Institute of Biology and Ecology in Kragujevac and Department for biology and ecology in Novi Sad;
- Data collected by support of local projects from the Rufford Small Projects Grants Scheme (or similar funders);
- Data collected by support of local/regional/national environmental authorities;
- Data used in EIA/SEA studies;
- Data published on the BioRaS portal;
- Data published into the Alciphron database;
- IPA project Natura 2000 Serbia / The project ceased operations due to administrative Reasons.
Table: Number of biodiversity indicators
Year | 2010 | 2015 | 2019 |
Number of biodiversity indicators | 15 | 25 | 50 |
Serbia