IIASA is collaborating with 14 partner institutions from Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain on a new research project aimed at developing a transnational system for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystems in Europe. The new broad-based Europe Biodiversity Observation Network: integrating data streams to support policy (EuropaBON), research project will be coordinated by the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv).
In May 2020, the European Commission presented the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, which aims to restore threatened or already degraded ecosystems in Europe by 2030 and halt biodiversity loss. According to the researchers, a systematic, up-to-date information system geared to the needs of policymakers and that reflects the status of Europe’s biodiversity and ecosystems is needed to establish informed policy measures.
The EuropaBON research alliance aims to develop a new standard for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystems, but also to harmonize data that have already been published on these issues.
By the end of the project, various options for a European network will have been established for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystems. Using concrete case studies, the team will examine the feasibility of the concepts ̶ from data acquisition and management to reporting to the European Commission. In the future, the system should also make it possible to retrospectively assess the effect of individual nature conservation measures.
For further information visit: https://www.miragenews.com/monitoring-biodiversity-and-ecosystems-in-europe/