Earth Observation (EO) data holds enormous potential for biodiversity monitoring, but remains difficult to integrate directly into biodiversity workflows or indicator calculations. This session presents a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and GEO BON that addresses this gap through interoperability rather than duplication of effort.

The session will show how interoperability between ESA’s openEO interface and GEO BON’s BON in a Box combines the strengths of both platforms: cloud-based EO data processing with biodiversity workflows. Through a demonstration, presenters will show how Earth Observation data can be integrated into workflows to enhance biodiversity monitoring and indicator reporting.

Presenters will explore how this complementarity can make EO data more usable for biodiversity monitoring, and how continued ESA–GEO BON collaboration can strengthen the pipeline from raw observations to decision-ready indicators, in support of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Discussion will center on the capacity and skill gaps countries face in putting EO data to practical use, and how this integration, and future ones, can help address these barriers.

Countries are mandated to track their progress toward the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework using indicators that summarize biodiversity trends. Many still face fragmented monitoring efforts, technical barriers, limited access to data and tools, and gaps in capacity. BON in a Box, an open-source GEO BON platform that helps countries build the capacity to calculate their own indicators and strengthen their national reporting.

This session shows how BON in a Box delivers scientifically rigorous and transparent solutions to these reporting challenges. We will present recent progress that has strengthened the robustness of our mission: a choice between an online user space or a local install, updated biodiversity indicator workflows, AI-assisted features that support users through their analyses, ongoing collaborations with Parties, scientists, and other organizations.

Through short presentations and demonstrations, followed by an open discussion, the session will show how we are building lasting national capacity through reproducible workflows that connect data to decisions. We will also highlight where collaboration and investment will expand this work

Four years into implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, countries need biodiversity monitoring systems that can turn observations into information for indicators, reporting and decision-making. GEO BON is working with its global network of national, regional and thematic Biodiversity Observation Networks (BONs), Essential Biodiversity Variable (EBV) communities, partners and technical initiatives to help build this capacity.
This session will provide an update on how GEO BON is translating the vision of a Global Biodiversity Observing System (GBiOS) into practical action. It will highlight progress across the network, including the development and strengthening of BONs; advances in EBVs and indicators; BON in a Box and reproducible data-to-decision workflows; emerging areas such as animal movement and One Health; and partnerships connecting Earth observation, biodiversity data, technology and national monitoring.
We look ahead to the next phase of implementation: how these pieces can work together as a more connected global observing system that strengthens national biodiversity monitoring while contributing to regional and global understanding of biodiversity change.
Through short presentations and discussion with GEO BON members and partners, the session will explore what is already working, where important gaps remain, and where collaboration and investment can accelerate the transition from biodiversity observations to sustained monitoring and action.

How can stronger connections between biodiversity data infrastructure and observation networks support action for nature? Join GEO BON and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) at the Data to Action Pavilion to explore their complementary roles and celebrate the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation.
GBIF’s global network of nodes and publishers mobilizes and shares biodiversity data through common standards and open infrastructure. GEO BON advances coordinated biodiversity observations, the Essential Biodiversity Variables framework, and tools to support monitoring and indicator development. Together, the networks can strengthen the connections between data availability, scientific analysis and policy needs.
The event will feature introductions to both networks and perspectives from GBIF nodes and Biodiversity Observation Networks on opportunities for collaboration. A practical BON in a Box demonstration will illustrate how mobilized biodiversity data can support analysis and monitoring, and how a new approach allows querying cloud-optimized biodiversity data structured through the Darwin Core Data Package.
The session will conclude with the MOC signing and a discussion of future joint activities, including capacity development, identifying and addressing data gaps, and supporting implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Researchers, data holders, practitioners and policymakers are invited to discover opportunities to participate.

How can countries use biodiversity data to track progress in preventing biological invasions? This event introduces Headline Indicator 6.1, the rate of invasive alien species establishment, and its role in monitoring Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The session will explain the indicator’s methodology and the data needed to calculate it: national checklists of invasive alien species, information on when species established, and estimates of survey effort over time. It will explore how national information can complement open resources, including the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species, the First Records database and species occurrence data available through GBIF. Drawing on country examples, the session will examine how to interpret establishment trends, assess data completeness and understand what the results mean for progress towards Target 6. Participants will also learn about a calculation pipeline under development to help countries use their own data alongside open sources. The discussion will highlight opportunities to strengthen national monitoring and data sharing to support prevention, management and reporting.