EASAC published on 22 March 2005 a users guide to biodiversity indicators. The guide highlights that while the EU has set the challenging target of halting the loss of plant and animal species by 2010, the methods for monitoring this have not yet been finalised, making it impossible to know if this target can or will be achieved. Only once there are effective ways of measuring the health of Europes biodiversity can we monitor the impact of attempts to protect it. The report points out that there are some established biodiversity indicators that could be used right away, such as the European Wild Bird Index. In total the report analyses the usefulness of 17 different biodiversity indicators.
