UK Target 21: The UK will ensure that the best available data, information and knowledge are accessible to decision makers, practitioners and the public to guide effective and equitable governance, integrated and participatory management of biodiversity, and to strengthen communication, awareness-raising, education, monitoring, research and knowledge management and, also in this context, traditional knowledge, innovations, practices and technologies of indigenous peoples and local communities should only be accessed with their free, prior and informed consent, in accordance with national legislation.[1]

Commitments:

UK

• The UK Biodiversity Indicators are being reviewed alongside the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) to identify priorities for alignment, to support international reporting obligations.
• The UK is providing funding to a Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate, which will run until March 2027, to support research and development that can generate evidence and unlock new approaches to addressing biodiversity and climate challenges simultaneously.
• The UK is supporting the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) to monitor and report on biodiversity-related development finance, in line with commitments in the COP26 DAC Declaration.
• The UK is supporting research to action for locally led projects through the Reversing Environmental Degradation in Africa and Asia (REDAA) programme so that people and nature thrive in times of climate, research and fiscal insecurity.

England

• We will deliver the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ (Defra’s) Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme by March 2025. NCEA is delivering a nationwide survey of England’s land, coast, and sea: mapping the location, extent and condition of our ecosystems and the benefits they provide.
• We will update our evidence base for drought and flood resilience using the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Infrastructure Fund.
• We launched the National Education Nature Park in October 2023, which brings together all the land from across education settings into a vast virtual nature park. It enables children and young people to get involved in taking practical action to improve the biodiversity of their school grounds while learning about nature’s role in climate change. The initiatives will provide educational opportunities for children and young people to take part in community science, biodiversity monitoring, mapping and data analysis—learning important knowledge for the future, underpinned by a strong foundation in numeracy.

Scotland

• We will map the current extent of pollinator-friendly habitats through existing data sets and identify gaps between these areas. We will identify whether these gaps are in data availability or habitats and ways to address this.
• We will gather and analyse data from which to better understand pollinator population trends, habitat availability and connectivity, to ensure the correct actions are being taken for pollinators and habitats.
• Biodiversity will be monitored at a local and a Scotland-wide level and the results will be transparent and publicly available.
• We are developing a monitoring and evaluation approach for assessing the delivery of actions and outcomes in the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. A three-tiered governance structure will link the high-level strategic framework and activities at the operational level. An independent body will assess and report on progress towards meeting the statutory targets.
• We will deliver the Marine Science and Innovation Strategy to strengthen the impact of marine science, evidence and data.

Wales

• The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 sets out how we will apply the principles of the sustainable management of natural resources, by promoting and engaging in collaboration and cooperation, and by making appropriate arrangements for public participation in decision making.
• Natural Resources Wales (NRW) must prepare a State of Natural Resources Report every four years. This should set out: NRW’s assessment of the extent to which sustainable management of natural resources is being achieved; NRW’s assessment of biodiversity (including the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under Section 7); what NRW considers to be the main trends and factors that are affecting, and are likely to affect, the state of natural resources; and any aspects of the state of natural resources about which NRW considers that it does not have sufficient information to make an assessment.
• We will continue to make available spatial data, including for biodiversity and ecosystems, through DataMapWales.
• The Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a list of the living organisms and types of habitat that in their opinion are of principal importance for the purpose of maintaining and enhancing biodiversity in relation to Wales.
• The Marine Evidence Strategy identifies evidence priorities to support delivery of policy objectives in the marine space. It provides a framework for collecting this evidence, whilst improving collaboration.
• We will ensure marine spatial data is widely available through the marine planning data portal.

Northern Ireland

• We will publish the first Living Map of Northern Ireland, based on a habitat/land cover model, by 2026.
• We will publish a suite of annual biodiversity indicators to report on progress against biodiversity targets, and to meet Environment Act, GBF, Climate Change Act, Northern Ireland Climate Change Adaptation Programme, and Green Growth Strategy reporting requirements.
• DAERA Open Data is an open data platform where users can discover, analyse and download datasets, which can be used for mapping and analysis. 
• We will produce Storymaps for each of our Marine Protected Areas, ensuring biodiversity data associated with these is available for public use.

UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies 

The British Virgin Islands

• We will update the existing coastal habitat atlas with information collected through the current hydrographic survey programme.
• We will develop a marine data capture/procurement strategy to define future research and data collection needs.
• We will undertake an assessment of overseas experience and best practice with coral farming and coral rehabilitation.
• We will undertake an audit of existing (known) research data and information that is not currently publicly available.
• We will collect, collate and present knowledge and information about the marine environment of the Virgin Islands, its condition, current and future uses, and areas of significant environmental value.

The Falkland Islands

• We will identify and explore opportunities for managing and sharing of data and information with relevance to the environment across sectors, both public and private, promoting the benefits of managing and sharing such data.
• We will incorporate more information about the Falkland Islands’ natural environment into education programmes.
• We will increase knowledge of the marine, terrestrial and aquatic environments and biodiversity, through identifying and filling key knowledge gaps, to support effective governance and decision making. 
• We will identify and prioritise data types and key geographic areas for data collection to increase our knowledge of marine, terrestrial and aquatic environments, and assess successes of previous restoration efforts to build better knowledge for future efforts.
• We will increase government capability to explore opportunities for development in science and innovation (e.g. strategic horizon-scanning).
• We will identify indicators for each different theme under the Environment Strategy as appropriate and begin measuring/collecting data for them.
• We will collect, collate and manage data to support environmental and sustainability outcomes through support for research, outreach and education. 

Gibraltar

• We will develop a new Indicator Framework Report for the 25 Year Environment Plan that builds on existing data.
• We will create a range of environmental resources and educational materials that can be loaned or used across schools to support environmental education. 
• We will continue to publish annual data on air and water quality, habitats and species as well as progress on renewable energy and waste management. 
• We will work with NGOs such as the Gibraltar Ornithological & Natural History Society and the Nautilus Project to support their sharing of information on biodiversity.
• We will continue to work to develop educational facilities and interpretation centres within the Gibraltar Nature Reserve to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Guernsey

• We will enable public access to all biological records (subject to suitable safeguards) through the ongoing funding of a central biological records centre and accessible web platform. 
• We will continue to work with the third sector to promote the islands’ State of Nature Report, which captures all the islands’ ecological data in a single report to describe the status of species and habitats, and identifies drivers of change.

The Isle of Man

• By 2025, everyone will have access to reliable, up-to-date and comprehensive biodiversity data that is essential to support government policies and decisions of businesses and private land and sea users.
• By 2025, we aim to actively involve society in understanding, appreciating and safeguarding biodiversity.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

• We will consider the benefits to recording, monitoring and protecting marine mammal distributions and International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) compliance through an observer programme and encourage visitor participation in citizen science projects.
• By 2025, a communications plan will be developed to promote wilderness values, and co-ordinated protection will be shared and in use by multiple stakeholders.
• By the end of 2026, a policy of open access will be the default position for all data arising from research and monitoring funded by the government, collected by the Government or carried out under permit or licence from the government, except in specific circumstances.
• We will build up a publicly accessible digital knowledge bank to identify and respond to threats posed by non-native species.

England   

• The England Trees Action Plan 2021–2024, supported by the Nature for Climate Fund, set out a long-term, generational vision for the forestry sector to 2050. It introduced a programme of new measures to boost tree planting and establishment, improve woodland management in England, and ensure more trees are planted, in the right places, to deliver multiple benefits for the climate, nature, the economy and people. 
• We will continue to support the rollout of local nature recovery strategies across England. The Government has provided the local authorities leading the preparation of the strategies with an online data viewer, including a national habitat map, to make it easier to access relevant government-held data.

Scotland

• The  Climate Ready Scotland: Second Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme 2019–2024 proposes the establishment of a National Forum on Adaptation, which would include senior representatives of key sectors and will improve both leadership and collaboration in tackling the global climate emergency.
• The Update to the Climate Change Plan 2018–2032, Securing a Green Recovery on a Path to Net Zero includes a section dedicated to Scotland’s ‘co-ordinated approach’ to meeting our emissions reduction targets—specifically, how we take a cross-cutting, systems-based approach that harnesses opportunities for a co-ordinated approach to policy making.
• Cleaner Air for Scotland 2: Towards a Better Place for Everyone is shaped around 10 general themes, one of which focuses on governance, accountability and delivery to produce practical, joined up delivery of actions to deliver continued and sustained reductions in air pollution. 
• The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland 2017–2027 sets out how we will continue to be a place where pollinators thrive, along with actions that are needed to achieve that objective, including making information readily available for stakeholders and policy makers, as well as developing advice for public action for pollinators.
• Scotland’s Forestry Strategy 2019–2029 presents a 50-year vision and a 10-year framework to action, expand, protect and enhance Scotland’s forests and woodlands.
• The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party’s draft shared policy programme, ‘Working together to build a greener, fairer, independent Scotland’, outlines the delivery of steps needed to accelerate our response to the climate emergency.
• The River Basin Management Plan for Scotland 2021–2027 sets out a framework for protecting and improving the benefits provided by the water environment across Scotland. We will work closely with businesses, land managers, voluntary groups and organisations to build strong and effective partnerships that will deliver the actions set out in this plan.
• The Food Waste Reduction Action Plan sets out how Scotland can work to deliver its commitment to reduce food waste by 33% by 2050.
• The Air Quality in Scotland Forecast is funded by the Scottish Government and provides information on the latest air quality forecasts for Scotland, as well as statistics, annual reports, legislation and policy and other relevant information.
• Our Marine Science and Innovation Strategy commits that, in line with principles of transparency and sharing our assets for the benefit of Scotland, we will commit to open access, high-quality data and information services, which meet the needs of the Scottish Government, our partners and stakeholders around our strategic focus on the blue economy.
• We will undertake an evidence-based update of information/advice on biodiversity management currently available to farmers/land managers to ensure it is up-to-date, clear and easily accessible by 2030.
• We will ensure that farmers and crofters can access tools, information and advice necessary to produce an integrated biodiversity audit as part of the Whole Farm Plan from 2025 as a pre-requisite to claiming support.
• We will support local authorities in their land use decision making to deliver overall positive outcomes for biodiversity and the creation of Nature Networks, through developing toolkits, including a nature-networks mapping tool and development of training by 2025.

Wales

• The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 sets out an integrated approach to managing Wales’ natural resources in order to achieve long-term sustainability. This includes the provision of information in the State of Natural Resources Report, a Natural Resources Policy and Area Statements.
• The National Peatland Action Programme 2025–2030 provides information on the sustainable management of peatland and grants available to support peatland restoration projects.
• The Welsh National Marine Plan sets strategic planning policy and is supplemented by detailed guidance and evidence providing information for applicants submitting proposals and licence applications to carry out activities in Welsh seas, for public authorities to guide decision making, and other users to understand the Welsh Government’s policy for the sustainable development of Welsh seas.
• The Welsh Marine Evidence Strategy 2019–2025 sets a common purpose for bodies in Wales with a responsibility for gathering and analysing marine data and information, and reporting evidence.

UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies 

The British Virgin Islands

• The Virgin Islands Strategic Blue Economy Roadmap 2020–2025 was developed with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It sets out an integrated approach to ocean-based sustainable development which brings together economy, environment and society, consistent with the Sustainable Development Agenda (2030), Aichi Target 11 and the Paris Agreement (the Roadmap was developed before the Global Biodiversity Framework was agreed and is therefore consistent with the Aichi Targets agreed under the CBD for 2011–2020).

The Falkland Islands

• The Falkland Islands Environment Strategy 2021–2040 sets out the Falkland Islands’ objectives for the next 20 years, so that we can work towards a shared vision for the future of our environment.
• The Islands Plan 2022–2026 Delivery Plan sets out the blueprint for the Legislative Assembly and will stand as proof of the actions that we intend to take on behalf of generations to come.

Gibraltar

• The 25 Year Environment Plan sets out Gibraltar’s long-term strategy for protecting and enhancing its environment over the next quarter century. It provides a structured framework to guide policy, planning and environmental management.

Guernsey

• Guernsey’s biodiversity strategy, the Strategy for Nature, is a framework that aims to integrate biodiversity in decision making, connect the community to nature and safeguard nature to increase its resilience to threats such as climate change. It also aims to foster and share knowledge about nature through the effective sharing and use of information.

The Isle of Man 

• Managing our Natural Wealth, The Isle of Man's First Biodiversity Strategy 2015–2025 sets out a vision for the future health of our biodiversity, and maps out the framework for action to conserve and enhance our natural richness for the health, enjoyment and economic well-being of all the people of Isle of Man.

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 

• Protect Sustain Inspire (PSI) – A values-driven approach to the stewardship of South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands 2021–2025 sets out the Islands’ seven priority areas for the period 2021 to 2025 and includes an overview of the range of activities and delivery commitments that will take priority. Delivering PSI – The Government’s Implementation Programme provides detail on the implementation programme for the PSI commitments beyond 2025.
• The South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Terrestrial Protected Area Management Plan provides information on the South Sandwich Islands Terrestrial Protected Area, and conservation objectives and activities taking place to protect this environment.