The ICREA researcher Sandra Brucet of the UVic-UCC authors an international report to preserve biodiversity in Europe and Central Asia

Biological diversity continues to decline dramatically in all the world's regions, and nature's ability to contribute to people's well-being is being significantly reduced. This trend endangers economies, livelihoods, food security and the quality of life of people around the world. This is one of the main conclusions of the four scientific reports produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which analyse the situation in America, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Europe and Central Asia respectively. Two researchers at the UVic-UCC participated in the preparation of the reports: the ICREA research lecturer Sandra Brucet and the AXA researcher Federica Ravera.

Sandra Brucet, a doctor in Biology and a specialist in Aquatic Ecology, is one of the authors of the report on Europe and Central Asia, and specifically the chapter on the past, present and future state of biodiversity in this region. Her work and contributions focus on the state of biodiversity in the continental aquatic systems. 120 experts from 36 countries participated in this specific report, and more than 4,000 scientific articles were reviewed. Meanwhile, Federica Ravera, of the Chair in Agroecology and Food Systems, participated as an expert in the methodological assessment of scenarios and modelling.

The evaluation reports produced by the IPBES are the result of three years of work on the planet's biological diversity and the ecosystems, and were allocated a budget of more than 5 million dollars. 550 scientists from more than 100 countries participated, and they reviewed thousands of scientific articles, government reports and other sources of information, including indigenous and local knowledge. Their goal was to draw conclusions about the marine, freshwater and land-based biological diversity of each region, and the conditions under which the ecosystems operate and the contributions made by nature to society. This information must ultimately act as a roadmap for decision-making by governments and institutions. The results of the four studies were presented in Medellin (Colombia) in late March.

The results of the reports

The reports stress that biological diversity and nature's contributions to society are an essential part of our survival, as they form the basis of our diet and provide access to drinking water and energy. For this reason, they warn that we must take action to halt and reverse our non-sustainable use of nature. At the same time, they list the causes that lead to the degradation of biological diversity, including overexploitation and the unsustainable use of natural resources, pollution, alien invasive species and climate change. The experts point out that the increase in intensive agriculture in Europe and Central Asia is one of the main factors behind the reduction in biodiversity, and that one of the problems in the region is that more renewable natural resources are consumed there than the region produces.

In the European Union, the assessments conclude that 73% of freshwater ecosystems (rivers and lakes) have an unfavourable conservation status, while wetland areas have reduced by 51% since 1970. 37% of freshwater fish species are at risk of extinction, and 71% and 60% of species of the fish and amphibians studied, respectively, have experienced considerable reductions in their populations over the last decade. "In our country, as in the entire Mediterranean region, changes to wetlands and their disappearance as a result of intensive agriculture, water extraction, urban development and climate change is a particular cause for concern," explains Sandra Brucet.

In marine ecosystems, 26.6% of fish populations are declining due to unsustainable fishing, habitat degradation or invasive species, among other factors, and 66% of the marine habitats studied were found to be in a poor state of conservation. In addition, according to Brucet, "land-based species and habitats are suffering from a permanent decline due to the destruction and modification of natural habitats as a result of unsustainable urban development, mining and agriculture and forestry."

Despite the alarming data provided by the experts, the IPBES reports also provide examples of policies that have proven to be effective in protecting and restoring biological diversity and nature's contributions to society in places where they have been applied effectively. In Europe, some improvements have already enabled these concepts to be incorporated into both public and private decision-making processes.

The UVic-UCC researchers

Sandra Brucet is a doctor in Biology and coordinator of the Aquatic Ecology Group at the UVic-UCC. She has undertaken several post-doctoral stays abroad, including a Marie Curie stay at the University of Aarhus, Denmark, and has worked at the European Commission implementing the European Water Directive. Her research focuses on studying continental aquatic ecosystems and the consequences of human activities for wetlands. In 2015, she was the first doctor to obtain a contract from ICREA (the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies) to conduct research and investigation on the UVic campus.

Federica Ravera holds a degree in Environmental Sciences from the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, and a doctorate in Environmental Sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has worked in the field of international cooperation and rural development at the FAO (the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) and has undertaken several post-doctoral stays. She joined the UVic-UCC in January 2017 with a Juan de la Cierva grant to undertake a project on the role of traditional agricultural and food knowledge in adapting to climate change under the umbrella of the Chair in Agroecology and Food Systems. She has been working at the UVic-UCC with a prestigious AXA post-doctoral grant since September 2017.

What is the IPBES?

The IPBES intergovernmental scientific regulatory platform is the international body that evaluates the state of biological diversity and the contributions of nature to society, in response to requests made by decision-making bodies. Its mission is to strengthen policy and decisions through science for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development. In the field of biodiversity, IPBES is considered the equivalent of the intergovernmental working group on climate change (IPCC).