Preserving and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity

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The UPSURGE project, led by BURST, focuses on urban Nature Based Solutions (NBS) for biodiversity and climate change. BeeOdiversity, a key partner, introduces the BeeOmonitoring tool, utilizing bees to gather environmental data. This innovative approach requires minimal effort from beekeepers and facilitates collaboration via an online dashboard. Past projects in Belgium show promising results in biodiversity and pollution reduction. Dr. Nguyen’s vision emphasizes integrating economic, environmental, and social aspects for sustainable change, aligning with NBS.

At LANDMARC, we are developing methods and instruments that non-researchers can use to reliably estimate how different land-use practices contribute to climate change mitigation. In our view, this can only be done by bringing in local knowledge at every stage of the research process. Here’s why.

Rather than trying to plant as many trees as possible, research coming out of the LANDMARC project suggests that it might be better to focus on planting fewer trees and managing them well, in a way that’s good for the underlying soil.

The understanding of nature-based negative emission solutions often focuses on their mitigation potential, thus as means for reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. However, this is only one small part of the whole picture; these techniques represent a more sustainable model that brings many environmental benefits in the long term.

In this article, we provide an overview of current understanding of the land-to-ocean carbon fluxes. We describe the new conceptual model of the land-to-ocean aquatic continuum (proposed by Regnier et al, 2022, Nature), as well as ongoing work to include this new knowledge in Earth System Models.