Coordinators:

• • Ministry of Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO).
    • General Directorate of Biodiversity, Forests and Desertification (DGBBD)
    • Autonomous Organism of National Parks (OAPN)
    • Biodiversity Foundation (FB)
  • Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN)
    • General Directorate for Research Planning (DGPI)
    • Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC)
    • Funding agencies under the MCIN.

Integrating nature into socioeconomic models is an urgent task. The planet is in a continuous process of biodiversity loss and facing new scenarios in which it is necessary to apply greater impetus and coordination between policies, strategies, projects and actions that address a transformative change that minimizes the effects and, in turn, generates added value for the economy and society. Scientific knowledge is a fundamental pillar for approaching decision-making with the necessary rigor and maximizing its effectiveness.

The Biodiversity and Science Strategy (BS&S) is presented as an integrating tool that links national biodiversity and natural heritage initiatives with those of science, technology and innovation. It takes advantage of common objectives, synergies and existing infrastructures and shares the following needs:

• Enhance the development of scientific knowledge on biodiversity and ensure informed knowledge of existing biodiversity.
• Align scientific knowledge and improve its availability for strategic and management decision-making.

This initiative is part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR) funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

The PRTR includes the preparation and approval of the Biodiversity and Science Strategy to act as a bridge between conservation policies, sustainable use, improvement and restoration of natural heritage and biodiversity, as well as sectoral policies, science and the practical implementation of actions to improve knowledge and conservation of biodiversity, supported by the implementation of a management and monitoring system for biodiversity knowledge.

In response to the need to incorporate science into decision-making, the Spanish Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation 2021-2027 (EECTI) is committed to placing science, technology and innovation as key axes in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda.

The EECTI prioritizes and responds to the challenges of national strategic sectors in specific areas that will be key to knowledge transfer and the promotion of R&D&I in the Spanish business fabric.

This Biodiversity and Science Strategy (EByC) aims to facilitate the implementation of the EECTI in the field of biodiversity conservation. Among the strategic lines that structure the EECTI are those linked to “Climate, energy and mobility” and “Food, Bioeconomy, Nature and Environment” and it is in this context of concrete application of these two strategic lines in the field of biodiversity where the present Biodiversity and Science Strategy (BS&S) is born and is imbricated, which aims to facilitate the implementation of the EECTI in the field of biodiversity conservation.

Development of the strategy

The first step in the process of drafting the B&CS was the creation of an initial draft of the document based on a literature review. This draft was divided into three areas:

• Vertebration of the strategy.
• Generation of knowledge for management.
• Transfer and communication.

The key principles on which the strategy is based are consensus and commitment, participation with a gender perspective, recognition of the value of research and knowledge production, and effective governance.

During the process of developing the strategy, three participatory workshops were held with the participation of a total of 86 people from the scientific sector, public administrations and civil society.

Finally, the strategy proposal was drafted. The result has been a document that includes the most relevant issues of the initial proposal, as well as the needs detected as a result of the participatory workshops. This document includes the missions, goals, objectives, lines of action and actions. It also contains an annex that develops the priority lines of research in species, ecosystems, causes of biodiversity loss, social dimension and enhancement, and business and biodiversity.