• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 2023

The US National Science Foundation's National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a continental-scale program intended to provide open data, samples, and infrastructure to understand changing ecosystems for a period of 30 years. NEON collects co-located measurements of drivers of environmental change and biological responses, using standardized methods at 81 field sites to systematically sample variability and trends to enable inferences at regional to continental scales. Alongside key atmospheric and environmental variables, NEON measures the biodiversity of many taxa, including microbes, plants, and animals, and collects samples from these organisms for long-term archiving and research use. Here we review the composition and use of NEON resources to date as a whole and specific to biodiversity as an exemplar of the potential of national research infrastructure to contribute to globally relevant outcomes. Since NEON initiated full operations in 2019, NEON has produced, on average, 1.4 M records and over 32 TB of data per year across more than 180 data products, with 85 products that include taxonomic or other organismal information relevant to biodiversity science. NEON has also collected and curated more than 503,000 samples and specimens spanning all taxonomic domains of life, with up to 100,000 more to be added annually. Various metrics of use, including web portal visitation, data download and sample use requests, and scientific publications, reveal substantial interest from the global community in NEON. More than 47,000 unique IP addresses from around the world visit NEON's web portals each month, requesting on average 1.8 TB of data, and over 200 researchers have engaged in sample use requests from the NEON Biorepository. Through its many global partnerships, particularly with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, NEON resources have been used in more than 900 scientific publications to date, with many using biodiversity data and samples. These outcomes demonstrate that the data and samples provided by NEON, situated in a broader network of national research infrastructures, are critical to scientists, conservation practitioners, and policy makers. They enable effective approaches to meeting global targets, such as those captured in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2023

By delivering effective, in-situ conservation of biodiversity, OECMs can contribute to sustaining existing biodiversity values and improving biodiversity conservation outcomes. In this study, for the reporting of OECMs required by Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the site-level assessment of the Korea National Arboretum and Buffer Zones were conducted using the assessment tool of IUCN. The site-level assessment was carried out in three steps(step 1: screening, step 2 : consent for full assessment, step 3 : the full assessment). It was found that the criteria were satisfied except for the consent for full assessment, sustainability of governance and management arrangements, and the equity of governance and management. Although the governing authority, rights-holders or any other stakeholders could be identified, the step of acknowledging and agreeing to the full OECM assessment was not possible because the governance was not established. As a result of the assessment of equitable governance and management in the aspect of recognition, procedure, and distribution based on criterion(the equity of governance and management), it is judged that more specific measures are needed in the aspect of recognition. And in the aspect of procedure, there is no legal basis for participation in governance and collection of opinions, so it is judged that there is a limit to listening and reflecting the opinions of stakeholders. In the aspect of distribution, it is necessary to further confirm whether it provides direct benefits to rights-holders such as landowners in the region. And it is necessary to prepare specific criteria to assess the important biodiversity values. Therefore, in order to promote OECM reporting in the future, it is necessary to conduct detailed research on various types of governance establishment and operation plans that can establish the basis for recognizing and agreeing to OECM assessment, specific criteria and reasonable measures to judge equity, and important biodiversity value.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.17-28
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• 2024

In order to achieve the management goals (30by30) mandated by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, this study established the site-level assessment criteria for OECMs, tailored to domestic circumstances using the Delphi analysis. Subsequently, a site-level assessment was conducted on the National Gariwangsan Natural Recreation Forest. As a result of the study, the initial step involved presenting criteria for the site-level assessment of OECMs, with 'consent for the assessment and recognition of OECM by competent and management authority' proposed as a prerequisite. Subsequently, seven evaluation criteria were established, including 'other than a legally protected area', 'spatially separated area with defined boundaries', 'effective in-situ conservation of biodiversity', 'sustainable management based on the competent and management authority', 'long-term sustainability of conservation outcomes', and 'provision of ecosystem services'. The results of applying site-level assessment criteria to the National Gariwangsan Natural Recreation Forest indicate that six criteria were met, while one criterion (sustainable management based on the competent and management authority) requires further improvement. Specifically, the key competent and management authorities for the National Gariwangsan Natural Recreation Forest are the Korea Forest Service and the National Natural Recreation Forest Management Office, with competent and management organizations established. However, the management focus is primarily on providing forest recreation services centered on users and facilities, making it difficult to confirm the long-term biodiversity conservation plans and implementation by the competent and management authorities. Therefore, it is deemed necessary to improve the long-term biodiversity conservation plans and implementation for the recognition of the National Gariwangsan Natural Recreation Forest as an OECM.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.408-416
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• 2023

The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems serves as a global standard for assessing and identifying ecosystems at high risk of biodiversity loss, providing scientific evidence necessary for effective ecosystem management and conservation policy formulation. The IUCN Red List of Ecosystems has been designated as a key indicator (A.1) for Goal A of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The assessment of the Red List of Ecosystems discerns signs of ecosystem collapse through specific criteria: reduction in distribution (Criterion A), restricted distribution (Criterion B), environmental degradation (Criterion C), changes in biological interaction (Criterion D), and quantitative estimation of the risk of ecosystem collapse (Criterion E). Since 2014, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems has been evaluated in over 110 countries, with more than 80% of the assessments conducted in terrestrial and inland water ecosystems, among which tropical and subtropical forests are distributed ecosystems under threat. The assessment criteria are concentrated on spatial signs (Criteria A and B), accounting for 68.8%. There are three main considerations for applying the Red List of Ecosystems assessment domestically: First, it is necessary to compile applicable terrestrial ecosystem types within the country. Second, it must be determined whether the spatial sign assessment among the Red List of Ecosystems categories can be applied to the various small-scale ecosystems found domestically. Lastly, the collection of usable time series data (50 years) for assessment must be considered. Based on these considerations, applying the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems assessment domestically would enable an accurate understanding of the current state of the country's unique ecosystem types, contributing to global efforts in ecosystem conservation and restoration.

• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.302-314
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• 2023

This study aims to explore the direction for Korea's effective response to Target 3 (30by30), which can be said to be the core of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (K-M GBF) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to find the direction of systematic OECM (Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures) discovery at the national level through a survey of global conceptual review and expert perception of OECM. This study examined ① the use of Korean terms related to OECM, ② derivation of determining criteria reflecting global standards, ③ deriving types of potential OECM candidates in Korea, and ④ considerations for OECM identification and reporting to explore the direction for identifying systematic, national-level OECM that complies with global standards and reflects the Korean context. First, there was consensus for using Korean terminology that reflects the concept of OECM rather than simple translations, and it was determined that "nature coexistence area" was the most preferred term (12 people) and had the same context as CBD 2050 Vision of "a world of living in harmony with nature." This study suggests utilizing four criteria (1. No protected areas, 2. Geographic boundaries, 3. Governance/management, and 4. Biodiversity value) that reflect OECM's core characteristics in the first-stage selection process, carrying out the consensus-building process (stage 2) with the relevant agencies, and adding two criteria (3-1 Effectiveness and sustainability of governance and management and 4-1 Long-term conservation) and performing the in-depth diagnosis in stage 3 (full assessment for reporting). The 28 types examined in this study were generally compatible with OECMs (4.45-6.21/7 points, mean 5.24). In particular, the "Conservation Properties (6.21 points)" and "Conservation Agreements (6.07 points)", which are controlled by National Nature Trust, are shown to be the most in line with the OECM concept. They were followed by "Buffer zone of World Natural Heritage (5.77 points)", "Temple Forest (5.73 points)", "Green-belt (Restricted development zones, 5.63 points)", "DMZ (5.60 points)", and "Buffer zone of biosphere reserve (5.50 point)" to have high potential. In the case of "Uninhabited Islands under Absolute Conservation", the response that they conformed to the protected areas (5.83/7 points) was higher than the OECM compatibility (5.52/7 points), it is determined that in the future, it would be preferable to promote the listing of absolute unprotected islands in the Korea Database on Protected Areas (KDPA) along with their surrounding waters (1 km). Based on the results of a global OECM standard review and expert perception survey, 10 items were suggested as considerations when identifying OECM in the Korean context. In the future, continuous research is needed to identify the potential OECMs through site-level assessment regarding these considerations and establish an effective in-situ conservation system at the national level by linking existing protected area systems and identified OECMs.