In the current context of global biodiversity loss, knowledge on species population trends, habitat health and causes of decay, becomes a fundamental tool for designing policies and action plans. Citizen science initiatives, offer the possibility to obtain large scale monitoring data through collaboration between research centres, civil society organizations, public administrations and private owners. At the same time, these initiatives involve the public in the conservation of nature and raise awareness on the topic. The new EU proposal on nature restoration indicates to maximise the access and use of data and services from citizen science. About 60% of the land included in the Natura 2000 Network is privately owned, which highlights the role of landowners in nature conservation. Alliance between citizen science and private property management could bring great benefits towards the objectives of the Biodiversity 2030 strategy of the European Union, but asks for a transparent approach and coordination. This workshop “Citizen science for nature conservation, (not) on my land” will open the discussion on the opportunities and current barriers for landowners to collaborate and benefit from citizen science projects, based on questions collected from stakeholders in the field.
Objective:
- Show the potential value of citizen science for private land conservation, in particular for the monitoring of privately protected areas and documenting their contribution to EU and global biodiversity policy objectives, for both NGO and landowners.
- Exchange on barriers, challenges, solutions and opportunities by sharing examples, projects, programs, raising awareness on the potential, contact points for support.