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EU-Funded ESMERELDA Biodiversity Project in Initial Stages



Luke Cloherty, Editor

 

EU-funded project ESMERALDA is developing a range of tools, working mechanisms and data for the assessment of biodiversity and related societally beneficial resources in Europe including drinking water provision, food, air and recreation, according to the European Commission.

The EC site says “A reduction in biodiversity could affect Europe’s economic health and its high standard of living. Economic and population growth, changes in land use, intensive agriculture, pollution and climate change are some of the main factors that lead to biodiversity loss – reducing the ability of Europe’s ecosystems to sustain future generations.

For Europe the goals are clear – preserve the continent’s rich biodiversity and use biological resources sustainably”.

The project will design and maintain building blocks for pan-European and individual regional assessments of ecosystems and their resources. The assessments will be imperative for informed policy decision-making. There will also be an online data sharing platform to help coordinate European research on ecosystems available via the project.

ESMERALDA’s work is in line with the European Commission’s Biodiversity Strategy 2020, which is hoping to prevent biological diversity loss.


January 12, 2016
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