Objective
Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services (ES) are core to the EU Biodiversity (BD) Strategy. They are essential if we are to make informed decisions. Action 5 sets the requirement for an EU-wide knowledge base designed to be: a primary data source for developing Europe’s green infrastructure; resource to identify areas for ecosystem restoration; and, a baseline against which the goal of ‘no net loss of BD and ES’ can be evaluated. In response to these requirements, ESMERALDA aims to deliver a flexible methodology to provide the building blocks for pan-European and regional assessments. The work will ensure the timely delivery to EU member states in relation to Action 5 of the BD Strategy, supporting the needs of assessments in relation to the requirements for planning, agriculture, climate, water and nature policy. This methodology will build on existing ES projects and databases (e.g. MAES, OpenNESS, OPERAs, national studies), the Millennium Assessment (MA) and TEEB. ESMERALDA will identify relevant stakeholders and take stock of their requirements at EU, national and regional levels. The objective of ESMERALDA is to share experience through an active process of dialogue and knowledge co-creation that will enable participants to achieve the Action 5 aims. The mapping approach proposed will integrate biophysical, social and economic assessment techniques. Flexibility will be achieved by the creation of a tiered methodology that will encompass both simple (Tier 1) and more complex (Tier 3) approaches. The work will exploit expert- and land cover-based methods, existing ES indicator data and more complex ES models. As a result the outcomes will be applicable in different contexts. The strength of the ESMERALDA consortium lies in its ability to make solutions for mapping and assessment problems available to stakeholders from the start of the project, because our expertise allows us to build on existing research projects and data sharing systems.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CSA - Coordination and support actionCoordinator
30167 Hannover
Germany
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Participants (38)
00790 Helsinki
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28049 Madrid
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Participation ended
NG7 2RD Nottingham
38122 Trento
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1111 Sofia
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
1081 HV Amsterdam
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2400 Mol
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1113 Sofia
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Participation ended
603 00 Brno
6716 EJ Ede
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8092 Zuerich
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LV-1010 Riga
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2000 Szentendre
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1113 Budapest
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1049 001 Lisboa
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050663 Bucuresti
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CB3 0DL Cambridge
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
5020 Salzburg
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61 712 Poznan
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75007 Paris Cedex 07
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PLA 9032 Paola
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1165 Kobenhavn
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106 48 Stockholm
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1049 Brussels
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NG11 0AE Barton
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The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
Co Kerry Dublin
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7034 Trondheim
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69978 Tel Aviv
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81235 Bratislava
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51014 Tartu
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08303 Vilnius
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265 04 Rio Patras
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2121 Nicosia
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24118 Kiel
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603 00 Brno
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1000 Ljubljana
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10000 Zagreb
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2940 Luxembourg
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