Ljubljana, September 7, 2023 – The cross-border project E-NAT2CARE, which started in September 2023, has the main goal of preserving and restoring a high level of biodiversity and the richness of ecosystems, from the Alps to the Karst landscape, in the area of ​​the Veneto and Friuli-Julian regions and Western Slovenia.

Foto: D. Tome

The E-NAT2CARE project is a continuation of the excellent results of the NAT2CARE project from the previous Interreg Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 program period, which showed that cross-border areas need coordinated management in order to stop the decline of biodiversity and the deterioration of the conservation level of habitats and species. Forests consisting of old-growth trees and containing large amounts of dead wood are among the most diverse ecosystems. They ensure the survival of many plant and animal species, have an important economic value, an educational and aesthetic role, and contribute to mitigating climate change. Due to felling, climate change and unpredictable and violent natural events, such as fires and floods, such forests are in serious danger, even in the area of ​​the Alps and the Karst. This also endangers many species that need such a forest to survive. On the other hand, there is a growing need for sustainable management of water resources.

The specific goals of the E-NAT2CARE project are:
 

• To establish innovative, joint cross-border monitoring approaches of indicator groups of animals, insects attached to dead wood and owls, which are good indicators of the state of forest conservation. These approaches will enable the coordinated collection of important information on the biology, ecology and distribution and threat of target species and habitats in the transboundary area. The information obtained in this way is crucial for designing, implementing and monitoring the effectiveness of conservation measures, as well as for determining guidelines and nature conservation priorities in protected areas and beyond.
• Strengthen community awareness of ecosystem services. We will achieve this by creating an atlas of ecosystems and ecosystem services in the Karst area and developing a system for evaluating ecosystem services and tools for defining the economic amount for creating a payment scheme for ecosystem services, with an emphasis on water.
• To strengthen cooperation between science and society, at the local and regional level, with the aim of revealing the exceptional biotic diversity of the wider cross-border area, strengthening the understanding of biotic diversity and ecosystem services, their involvement in the planning and implementation of nature conservation measures with an emphasis on protected areas.

Foto: A. Žunič Kosi, D. Tome, M. Di Lenardo

The partners of the project, which will last until 2025, are: National Institute of Biology (NIB) (lead partner of the project), Parco Naturale regionale delle Prealpi Giulia (PNPG), Park Škocjanske jame (PŠJ), Università degli Studi di Udine – Dipartimento di Scienze Agroalimentari , Ambientali e Animali (UNIUD) and the University of Primorska, Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (FAMNIT).

You can read more about the project at the link: https://www.ita-slo.eu/en/e-nat2care

Contact: responsible person of the project, phone, email: dr. Alenka Žunič Kosi, +386 59 232 774, alenka.zunic-kosi@nib.si.