CFE/TERRA members stand out in Biodiversity Conservation at UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 (COP 16)

As part of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 16), the UNESCO Chair on Biodiversity Safeguard for Sustainable Development, the Centre for Functional Ecology (CFE) and the TERRA Associate Laboratory, together with Women4Biodiversity, promoted, on October 24, the parallel session ‘Women, Citizen Science, and the Futures of Biodiversity Conservation’ – more information here.

This session was attended by CFE/TERRA researcher and member of the UNESCO Chair in Biodiversity and Conservation for Sustainable Development at the University of Coimbra, António Gouveia, and CFE/TERRA researcher Filipa Bessa.

António Gouveia presented the paper ‘The importance of citizen/community science for biodiversity conservation’, highlighting that an increasingly recognized way of improving and accelerating the production of knowledge on biological diversity is precisely “through the active involvement of citizens in scientific processes”.

Filipa Bessa made her presence felt through a recorded video, which was presented during the session, where she addressed participatory efforts in marine plastic pollution mapping, based on her experience and the projects she is involved in.

By participating in events such as the UN Biodiversity Conference 2024 (COP 16) , TERRA researchers are helping to promote discussion on a number of crucial issues for the conservation of global biodiversity.

Researcher António Gouveia believes that it is the responsibility of researchers to actively participate in international forums where decisions with a global impact are made. “The presence of researchers at these events can facilitate the transfer of knowledge and scientific practices with communities of conservationists, community leaders, NGOs, policy makers, innovation and industry sectors and science communicators, activating the knowledge and information generated in academia and R&D units, in line with the objectives of the Associate Laboratories”, he said.