Switzerland is one of the first countries in the world to monitor its biological diversity. The Federal Office for the environment (FOEN) has launched a programme for this purpose called Biodiversity Monitoring in Switzerland (BDM).

In conjunction with the BDM programme, experts contracted by the Federal Government will regularly count animals and plants in numerous predetermined areas in the field.

Whereas numerical qualitative objectives are accepted in most areas of environmental protection (emissions thresholds in air pollution control, for example), there are so far no targets for how biodiversity should change. Biodiversity monitoring helps us to define specific targets for nature conservation policy and to establish whether the measures that have been implemented are enabling us to reach these targets.

What does this achieve? For some years, the Federal Government has been supporting the setting-aside of "wildflower strips" in agriculture. On the basis of BDM data, it will be possible to determine whether these incentive payments result in an increase in diversity. (Photo: Urs Tester)

For example, the BDM programme can determine whether the species diversity in Switzerland’s forests is increasing or whether it is declining in spite of forest reserves and ecological management.

Like the Dow Jones Index, which reflects business development by using market indices, the BDM programme shows how biodiversity, our natural capital, is developing.