Categoria: BLOG

The goal of the LIFE SEPOSSO project is to carry out activities (in compliance with the 2015 European Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the 2014 Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP) Directive) that support the restoration of P. oceanica meadows that have been destroyed by infrastructural marine works, using in particular information systems and information tools. The main objective of the project is to create an electronic information system to measure and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the inspection and surveillance works related to EIA prescriptions. This includes the transplanting of P. oceanica as an alternative method for meadows restoration, given that in Italy specific EIA procedures have identified transplanting as the best measure available for restoring destroyed meadows.

In general, for a sustainable use of marine resources based on an ecosystem approach, the implementation of MSP requires a strong interaction with the 2001 Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and EIA Directives. The acquisition and organisation of data needs to be planned and carried out at every single level.

Transplanting should not encourage indiscriminate overexploitation of the coasts. To ensure this doesn’t happen, specific planning, coupled with effective monitoring tools, needs to be provided. It is also essential to promote knowledge and awareness of this issue among the different stakeholders to better manage the different phases of the process.

Alessandro, Giacomo and Daniel, contracted by SETIN srl, associated beneficiary, are working in SEPOSSO Project Management and in the analysis of the Ecosystem Services provided by Posidonia meadows.

THE CSMON-LIFE PROJECT is the first LIFE project of citizen science on biodiversity that has involved citizens in the study, management and conservation of biodiversity, creating an active collaboration between citizens, the scientific community and institutions. Ecolinfa experts have contributed to the achievement of the results of the following campaigns and have supported the administrative management of the project.

Global warming campaign

Objectives

The main aim was to raise citizen awareness on climate change, one of the most relevant environmental issues facing our society today. It is necessary to raise awareness and collect scientifically validated information in order to support appropriate policies for the conservation of rare and threatened species and the control of invasive species under current climate change. The final results of the campaign have allowed a better understanding of which species will be potentially favored by climate change and which will not.

Citizens engaged

More than 4000 users have collected  over  10,000 observations, that refer to the 66 target species of the CSMON-Life project.

Results achieved

Once the occurrences data collected by volunteer citizens were made available, a standard procedure  was carried out to elaborate species’ ecological niche and five Habitat Suitability maps for each species

Alien species campaign

Objectives

Organizing dozens of events open to the public to raise awareness of the problem and the risks represented by the presence and diffusion of alien and invasive species throughout the territory of the Region of Lazio. Channeling citizens’ attention to alien species, both animal and vegetable, including the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri); the red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans), the red shrimp of Louisiana (Procambarus clarkii), the palm weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus), the Hottentot-fig (Carpobrotus edulis).

Citizens engaged

About 5000 citizens, as well as about 2000 students.

Results achieved

The events were named Scoprinatura and Bioblitz and saw the involvement of many groups of citizens, from primary schools to specialists, from enthusiasts to decision-makers. Collected data has enabled the development of distribution maps and modeling potential spread maps which demonstrate that the problem of alien species is particularly felt today in urban areas but that this situation could turn around in the medium term and affect the biodiversity values of the areas of greater naturalness.

Main achievements

CSMON has contributed to promoting a national movement for the development of citizen science activities to monitor biodiversity, laying the foundations for an active community of citizens, researchers and decision makers.

• CSMON has established a solid data validation protocol, a key factor for research and for the development of new environmental policies.
• Thanks to the engagement of local institutions and organizations as an element of contact between citizens and science, activities carried out by the project can be transformed into concrete actions.
• Conveying Data to the National Biodiversity Network of the Ministry of the Environment boosts the results achieved and returns value to the citizen.
• CSMON has proved to be a project of extensive replication in term of approaches, technologies and protocols.

The European Commission has received 629 proposals for environment and climate protection projects by the LIFE programme’s deadlines in September 2017

Alessandro and Giacomo have been involved in the design of some LIFE project proposals.

SETIN is partner in LIFE SEPOSSO, project co-financed by the EU, under the LIFE Programme, and lead by ISPRA.

SEPOSSO aims to perform activities in support of effective control processes of restoration of Posidonia oceanica meadows damaged by infrastructural marine works in compliance with the European Directive on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA-2015/52/EC) and the Maritime Spatial Planning Directive (MSP-2014/89/EU)

SEPOSSO has commenced in October, 2017.

The TV Programme “PresaDiretta” has realized an episode dedicated to the natural capital’s value in Italy.

Prof. Davide Marino, our colleague and partner in IES Alliance, was interviewed on the value of natural capital.

Here you can find the advertise and the direct link to watch it in streaming (in Italian language)

http://www.presadiretta.rai.it/dl/portali/site/puntata/ContentItem-8a47bc39-eda2-4d90-ae92-c567e2e08228.html

Businesses often privatize profits and publicize costs, as they do not pay directly for environmental externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions, water use, land use consumption, air pollution, land and water pollution.

This document elaborated for the TEEB, affirm that the total unpriced natural capital consumed by the more than 1,000 “global primary production and primary processing region-sectors” amounts to $7.3 trillion a year — 13 percent of 2009 global GDP.

Other most important outcomes are: greenhouse gases from coal burning are the biggest environmental cost and of the top 20 region-sectors ranked by environmental impacts, none would be profitable if environmental costs were fully integrated. This means that these businesses are profitable because they are able to charge the environmental externalities to the public.

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is a global initiative focused on “making nature’s values visible”. Its principal objective is to mainstream the values of biodiversity and ecosystem services into decision-making at all levels. TEEB is supported by many donors and involves many partners.

Natural Capital accounting is one of the areas of work of TEEB.

“Nature provides innumerable services that underpin food security, human well-being and indeed, the global economy” says the UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), recognizing biodiversity has intrinsic and cultural values beyond economics.

The UNEP-WCMC has recently supported the elaboration of the global map of natural capital, which includes assets such as freshwater resources, soil quality, organic carbon, terrestrial and marine biodiversity, and global fish catch (as a proxy for marine fish stocks). The report builds on a considerable body of work in the fields of natural capital accounting and the mapping of ecosystem services.

Accordingly to the World Bank, Natural capital is a critical asset, especially for developing countries where it makes up a significant share (36%) of total wealth. The World Bank does not limit its action to scientific and technical papers elaboration, like the well-know  “Where is the Wealth of the Nation” ?

An important international initiative is WAVES , the Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services, a World Bank-led global partnership that aims to promote sustainable development by ensuring that natural resources are mainstreamed in development planning and national economic accounts.

The Natural Capital has a significant value and it can be expressed in terms of ecosystem services’ significance.

In 1997 Robert Costanza and colleagues first estimated that ecosystem services worldwide are worth an average $33 trillion annually ($44 trillion in 2014’s dollars), nearly twice the global GNP of around $18 trillion ($24 trillion in 2014’s dollars). In 2014, Costanza and colleagues have reviewed this assessment, and they estimated that ecosystem services in 2011 worth $ 41.6, $4 less than 14 years before.

This framework suggests that natural capital and ecosystem services’ values have substantially decreased. International institutions, national governments and NGOs are providing a strong effort at global level, with a significant commitment, to halt natural capital decline, through projects and specific initiatives.

In this issue we report some examples of projects, initiatives and documents concerning the value of natural capital and the valorization of ecosystem services.