The European Biodiversity Partnership, Biodiversa+, a consortium in which the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) participates, is holding its General Assembly between 13 and 14 September at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid.

The European Biodiversity Partnership, Biodiversa+, a consortium in which the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) participates, is holding its General Assembly between 13 and 14 September at the Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid.  

Biodiversa + is made up of 74 bodies from 34 EU member countries and other associated countries, and works to return European nature to the path of recovery by 2030 and for society to live in harmony with nature by 2050. This is one of the key actions of the European Union’s Biodiversity Strategy 2030 under the umbrella of the Horizon Europe programme.

This new Partnership is jointly created by Biodiversa+ and the European Commission (Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Directorate-General for the Environment). Its representation in Spain is made up of the State Research Agency (AEI), the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI) of the Ministry of Science and Innovation, and the Biodiversity Foundation of MITECO. The Partnership was officially launched on 1 October 2021, and has since developed a large number of activities to connect science, governance and practice with the aim of bringing about transformative change.

At this meeting, the Partnership will discuss the progress made throughout this first year of work towards the achievement of its five main objectives : to support research and innovation in biodiversity through annual calls to boost the capacity to implement the results; creating a European network of harmonised systems to improve the monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem services; contribute to high-quality knowledge that deploys nature-based solutions and valorization of biodiversity in the private sector; ensuring science-based support for decision-making and the implementation of policies and regulations in Europe; and strengthening the relevance and impact of biodiversity research in a global context. In addition, it will also approve the work plan for next year, which will give continuity to the activities in execution and will include new calls, aimed at achieving the objectives of Biodiversa+.

One of the activities on which the Assembly will work is the resolution of the call for research for the protection of biodiversity, published in October 2021, endowed with more than 45 million euros contributed by the entities that are part of the Partnership and the European Commission. The Biodiversity Foundation of MITECO will contribute 650,000 euros to the financing of Spanish entities that develop their projects in the marine environment.

The high participation of Spanish groups in these transnational projects demonstrates the high quality and high competitiveness of the Spanish science and technology system and its international projection in issues related to biodiversity and the environment. This resolution culminates a comprehensive evaluation process carried out by scientists and experts from around the world, who have assessed the scientific excellence, the capacity for implementation and the impact that these research projects will have on society.

On September 8, 2022 , a new Biodiversa+ call was published, focused on biodiversity monitoring, which will be resolved throughout 2023. The aim of this call is to improve the monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem changes at a transnational level for science and society. It covers three themes: innovation and harmonization of methods and tools for the capture and management of biodiversity monitoring data; knowledge gaps in status, dynamics and trends to reverse biodiversity loss; make use of available tracking data. The deadline for submitting proposals will remain open until November 7, 2022.

Within the framework of this new Biodiversa+ call on biodiversity monitoring, the Biodiversity Foundation will support the Spanish partners of the projects that successfully participate in this international call of the Partnership and that focus their actions on the improvement of the marine environment.

The topics of the future Biodiversa+ research calls for the period 2023-2024 will also be outlined at this General Assembly and will have as strategic objectives nature-based solutions or social transformation.