Developing a global indicator for Aichi Target 1 by merging online data sources to measure biodiversity awareness and engagement

Abstract

Due to the importance of public support in fostering positive outcomes for biodiversity, Aichi Biodiversity Target 1 aims to increase public awareness of the value of biodiversity and actions that help to conserve it. However, indicators for this critical target have historically relied on public-opinion surveys that are time-consuming, geographically restricted, and expensive. Here, we present an alternative approach based on tracking the use of biodiversity-related keywords in 31 different languages in online newspapers, social media, and internet searches to monitor Aichi Target 1 in real-time, at a global scale, and at relatively low cost. By implementing the indicator, we show global patterns associated with spatio-temporal variability in public engagement with biodiversity topics, such as a clear drop in conversations around weekends and biodiversity-related topic congruence across culturally similar countries. Highly divergent scores across platforms for each country highlight the importance of sourcing information from multiple data streams. The data behind this global indicator is visualized and publicly available at BiodiversityEngagementIndicator.com and can be used by countries party to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to report on their progress towards meeting Aichi Target 1 to the Secretariat. Continued and expanded monitoring using this indicator will provide further insights for better targeting of public awareness campaigns.