Forensics used to reverse the decline of biodiversity in Europe
Staffordshire University is contributing forensic intelligence to an ambitious project which aims to protect endangered species like wolf, bear, lynx, and sturgeon in remote areas of Europe
Business AnnouncementStaffordshire University is contributing forensic intelligence to an ambitious project which aims to protect endangered species like wolf, bear, lynx, and sturgeon in remote areas of Europe.
Funded by Horizon Europe, NATURE FIRST brings together 12 global partners to improve biodiversity and protect the habitats of many species which are being threatened by human activity.
Over the next three years, the project will develop predictive, proactive and preventative capabilities for nature conservation and law enforcement by combining forensic intelligence and remote sensing technologies into one system.
This new approach will draw on real-time data from satellites, drones, cameras and other sources to monitor protected locations affected by human activity.
Spanning Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Serbia and Spain, the project will focus on biogeographical regions including the Carpathians, the Danube Delta, the Stara Planina mountains, the Os Ancares and O Courel.
Claire Gwinnett, Professor of Forensic and Environmental Science, explained: “The overall aim is to halt and reverse the decline of biodiversity in Europe. We want to improve natural habitats where certain species are an incredibly important part of the ecosystem. To achieve this, we need a better understanding of why and where biodiversity is declining and what the key triggers are.
“As most of the threats and pressures on biodiversity are man-induced, this project will combine ecology and forensic science. This novel approach will use remote sensing technologies, machine learning and wildlife forensic methods to detect and recognise traces of human activities that negatively affect the environment.”
Biodiversity is under severe pressure due to a myriad of problems, including habitat fragmentation, overexploitation, hunting, climate change, pollution and invasive species.
The exploitation of natural resources also brings with it illegal activities such as poaching of species of flora and fauna that have a high value on the black market, trafficking and trading of rare and exotic animals and plants and setting fire to forestry and natural areas to force land-use designation changes to agriculture or commercial uses.
NATURE FIRST’s continuous, model-driven form of ecosystem monitoring will help to find cause-effect relationships and better understand changes in the environment. The models, also called Digital Twins, will help to translate environmental data into facts and actionable information for site managers and policy makers.
Professor Gwinnett said: “The regions we are looking at cover vast land masses which can’t easily be monitored manually on the ground. The Digital Twins system will make use of digital technologies to detect wildlife crime and other threats to facilitate rangers or law enforcement officers so that they respond more effectively.
“We will also be looking at how people who use the area legitimately can report through the Digital Twins system to help trigger a response to any changes in the environment or illegal activity.”
Professor Gwinnett added: “The aim of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is to ensure that ecosystems are healthy, resilient to climate change and rich in biodiversity so that they can keep delivering the range of services essential to the prosperity and well-being of all of us. We are excited to be taking positive steps to help achieve this by working with such a fantastic group of global partners.”
The NATURE FIRST consortium members are 3EDATA INGENIERIA AMBIENTAL SL, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the Danube Delta National Institute for Research and Development, DotSpace, Semantic Web Company (SWC), Sensing Clues (coordinator), Staffordshire University, Sustainable Scale-up Foundation, Wageningen University & Research, Wildlife Forensic Academy, and WWF.
Deforestation and grassland conversion are the biggest causes of biodiversity loss
Researchers rank drivers of global biodiversity change
Peer-Reviewed PublicationIMAGE: LAND USE CHANGES SUCH AS DEFORESTATION AND GRASSLAND CONVERSION ARE NOT ONLY THE MAIN CAUSE OF GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY LOSS, THEY ARE ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR ABOUT A QUARTER OF GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS. view more
CREDIT: ADOBE STOCKS
Whilst climate change has rightly attracted attention for its catastrophic consequences for the natural world, it is currently only the fourth largest driver of biodiversity loss on land, followed by invasive alien species in fifth place. “This major new study, published during the COP27 climate summit, demonstrates clearly that fighting climate change alone will not be enough to prevent the further loss of biodiversity, and with it our future”, says Dr Nicolas Titeux, one of the two first authors. “The various direct drivers should be addressed with similar ambition as the climate crisis and as a whole.” Titeux currently works at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology but conducted the biggest part of the study at the UFZ with funding from iDiv.
Greenhouse gasses have been known to be the leading cause of the climate crisis for decades but just as important is understanding what is behind the enormous and rapid decline in species. A million species of animal and plant are threatened with extinction within the next few decades without significant countermeasures. Ecosystems worldwide are changing away from their natural condition, which means that they are increasingly unable to provide crucial ecosystem services for human well-being.
The authors of the study, led by Dr Pedro Jaureguiberry from UNC in Argentina and Dr Nicolas Titeux, also found that climate change is already in second place as a direct driver of species loss in the oceans. Here, the exploitation of fish stocks plays the biggest role. However, based on current developments, the authors assume that the importance of climate change for species loss and the decline of ecosystem services will increase in the coming years and decades and move up in the ranking of direct drivers.
The authors of this study thus confirm and specify the facts that the Global Assessment of the World Biodiversity Council IPBES had already indicated in 2019. “Our publication shows the depth of the work, which was performed in the Global Assessment of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), where only the main results could be shown”, says Josef Settele from UFZ and Co-chair of the Global Assessment of IPBES. “It indicates the profoundness of the IPBES work”.
Need for nature-based solutions
This major study should be a game-changer for understanding how to tackle biodiversity loss. Jaureguiberry says: “Our study brings comprehensive and rigorous information on which drivers cause the most damage to biodiversity at multiple levels, from regions and realms to the different facets of biodiversity, highlighting the importance of each driver in particular contexts. Hopefully, this will contribute to a more holistic approach to generate more efficient policies to reverse biodiversity loss.”
In particular, the research demonstrates the need for a more holistic approach that will tackle the twin threats of climate and the biodiversity crisis together. Titeux points out that “The current global agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change can focus too narrowly on one driver, overlooking or, in the worst-case, undermining solutions for others”.
Professor Andy Purvis from the Natural History Museum in London explains: “Climate change and biodiversity loss have been tackled largely separately, by different policies that haven't always considered the other problem. For example, biofuels are proposed as one way to get to net zero, but the expansion of plantations into natural forest that could result would be terrible for nature.”
The paper also highlights some of the ‘nature-positive’ solutions that tackle both climate change and biodiversity loss such as large-scale restoration of natural forests and effective protection of coastal wetlands.
Andy Purvis adds:” I’d love for 'nature-positive' to get into the public consciousness as much as 'net zero' has. If future generations are going to have the same birthright we had of a liveable, supportive planet, then all parts of society will have to transition as quickly as possible to being both net zero and nature-positive.”
The research was financed inter alia by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; FZT-118).
JOURNAL
Science Advances
METHOD OF RESEARCH
Meta-analysis
SUBJECT OF RESEARCH
Not applicable
ARTICLE TITLE
The direct drivers of recent global anthropogenic biodiversity loss.
ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE
9-Nov-2022
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