protect biodiversity. These measurements typically involve tracking the health of ecosystems, monitoring species populations, and assessing the impacts of water management activities.

River basin organizations (RBOs) and treaties provide additional mechanisms for promoting cooperative management of shared waters while addressing threats like pollution, overextraction, and habitat destruction. RBOs can play important roles in maintaining ecological balance, preserving biodiversity, and enhancing the resilience of critical ecosystems in the face of climate change and human-induced pressures.

In the same vein, international river basin treaties can incorporate biodiversity considerations through monitoring species populations, ecosystem health, and habitat protection. Several important examples can be cited. (1) The Mekong Agreement integrates biodiversity monitoring into its Environment Programme, tracking species diversity, migration of fish (e.g., the Mekong giant catfish - _Pangasianodon gigas_ ), aquatic ecosystem health, and wetland conditions. The Agreement emphasizes the protection of wetlands and fisheries, along with sustainable species management. These goals reflect the broader vision of the Mekong River Commission (MRC), to ensure "an economically prosperous, socially just, environmentally sound, and climate resilient Mekong River Basin" (MRC, 2024). (2) The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) includes biodiversity indicators to assess water management impacts on wetlands, ecosystems, and species. The NBI monitors pollution and focuses on the conservation of wetlands and aquatic ecosystems in water management plans. Critical species characteristics of the kind presented in Table 3 can play important roles in this context, including the identification of flagship species for Nile Basin wetland groups (NBI 2021). Article 6 of the Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework focuses on the protection and conservation of the Basin, including protecting and conserving biological diversity (NBI 2010). The NBI 10-Year Strategy identifies environmental sustainability as one of its six strategic priorities (Goal 4). (3) The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) promotes biodiversity conservation through monitoring forest, river, and wildlife status. Indicators include deforestation rates, species diversity, and ecosystem conditions. The Amazon Environmental Information Network (RAISG) tracks biodiversity and land-use trends, supporting sustainable resource management. (4) The Zambezi River Basin's Shared Vision (2004) integrates biodiversity monitoring into the Zambezi River Action Plan. The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) monitors wetland health, riparian vegetation and fish populations, with a focus on migratory and endemic species (e.g. Kafue Lechwe, an endemic species of antelope in ZAMCOM 2008). The treaty advocates for integrated management to conserve ecosystems, limit pollution, and protect endangered species.

While these river basin initiatives have made indispensable contributions (Petersen-Perlman et al. 2017), further improvements are possible. For example, Liu et al. (2020) find that transboundary conservation efforts have predominantly concentrated on large mammals, often overlooking other species. Better information would also help, since a key element in the successful implementation of the treaties is the availability of reliable and comparable data for biodiversity monitoring, habitat assessments, and cross-border implementation. Reliable data underpin early warning systems, foster evidence-based decision-making, and inform the coordination of conservation efforts across borders. Moreover, such data are vital in addressing 21