FCTUC leads structuring project for the conservation of pollinators in Portugal

The Faculty of Sciences and Technology from the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) is coordinating a structuring project for the conservation and sustainability of pollinators in the entire national territory.

The project entitled PolinizAÇÃO, is coordinated by Sílvia Castro and João Loureiro, CFE professors and researchers at the Department of Life Sciences (DCV), aims at fighting the decrease in pollinator insects, such as bees, butterflies, flower flies, and others.

To do this, the project will identify and implement concrete conservation actions while mobilising and raising society's awareness about the vital importance of these agents in biodiversity and food production. This will be done in close coordination with Rede Colaborativa para a Avaliação, Conservação e Valorização dos Polinizadores e da Polinização - polli.NET.

“Pollinators perform a vital service in the ecosystems, they are crucial for nature, agriculture and human well-being. However, they currently face a variety of global pressures, from soil use alterations, that promote the simplification and homogenisation of the landscape, to biological invasions and climatic changes”, explains Sílvia Castro, alerting that these pressures represent a significant threat to functional biodiversity conservation of the ecosystems and the sustainable agriculture production.

In this project's scope, an orienting and pragmatic Plan of Action for the Conservation and Promotion of Polinators and Polinization Services in Portugal will be made, which will give a strategic basis to the interested parties, by establishing clear guidelines to promote sustainable practices. “This plan appears as an urgent and collaborative answer to face the challenges that threaten pollinators” believes the DCV researcher.

“PolinizAÇÃO represents a serious compromise with the conservation of our biodiversity. By joining efforts with several entities, we aim to evaluate state of the art regarding pollinators in the national territory, create a long-lasting monitoring program, build a proper plan of action, and develop dissemination and citizen science initiatives about the importance of pollinators”, clarifies João Loureiro.

This new project, which will last 2 years, is financed by the Fundo Ambiental do Ministério do Ambiente e Alterações Climáticas and involves an execution partnership with Rede polli.NET, including outstanding members of the Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas (ICNF), the Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c), the Faculty of Sciences and Tecnology of the University of Lisbon, the Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture And Food (LEAF) from the Instituto Superior de Agronomia (School of Agriculture) from the University of Lisbon , the Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto, the BIOPOLIS Association, the Azorean Biodiversity Group of the University of Azores, the Portuguese Society of Entomology, and the Butterfly Conservation Center – Tagis.

For more information visit the projects page.

(Original press release in Portuguese by Sara Machado, FCTUC)