Professor Prof. Cristina Varese presents SUS-MIRRI.IT project during the 14th National Conference on Biodiversity – 1st International Conference on Mediterranean Biodiversity 13th – 15th September 2023, in Lecce, Italy. The 14th National Conference on Biodiversity is organized by the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies (DiSTeBA) of the University of Salento in collaboration with the Academy of Mediterranean Biodiversity Sciences (ASBM) in order to continue the discussion and dialogue initiated more than 25 years ago, among scientists, institutional and policymakers, on issues related to the mutually complementary domains of the biodiversity: biodiversity at intraspecific level, at interspecific level , and at entire ecosystem level. The aim is to help promoting the advancement of knowledge based on the rigor of the scientific method. In particular, the 14th National Biodiversity Conference will be a showcase for studies and research focusing on “Biodiversity, Resilience and Climate Change”.
Since the birth of agriculture more than 12,000 years ago, we have witnessed a continuous erosion of biodiversity as natural ecosystems have shrunk in favor of cultivated areas. Agriculture has led to the concept of agrobiodiversity and the proliferation of many typical local varieties (sometimes of species imported from other continents).
Today, safeguarding the productivity, sustainability, and biodiversity of the agroecosystem is helpful in preventing new natural areas from being sacrificed for crop fields. However, in recent years the increasing of greenhouse gases concentration and average temperatures at world level have introduced additional variables to this challenge.
The effects of climate change on biodiversity are already visible: species distribution, flowering periods and bird migrations are changing. It is therefore necessary for humans to be able to help ensure the proper health of ecosystems because our prosperity and well-being depend on the ecosystem services that nature provides.
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem degradation are interconnected and have devastating consequences for our economic and social stability, health, and well-being. The EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, a key pillar of the European Green Deal, includes a nature restoration plan that can promote the proliferation of so-called “nature-based solutions”, which are a viable socioeconomic option regarding agroforestry, water resources as well as for the urban environment.
Biodiversity, resilience and climate change are thus closely interrelated issues that constitute the future strategic challenge in the scenario of sustainable development. An innovative biodiversity preservation strategy covering not only the primary terrestrial and aquatic environments formed through millions of years, but also the secondary natural environments determined by human action over the centuries (particularly in recent decades) that have led from “cultivated field” to today’s rural areas.