Biodiversa+ Announces Funding for 36 Transnational Projects
38 funding organisations from 28 countries will fund research teams under Biodiversa+’s first call on “Supporting the Protection of Biodiversity and Ecosystems across Land and Sea (BiodivProtect)”
38 funding organisations from 28 countries will fund research teams under Biodiversa+’s first call on “Supporting the Protection of Biodiversity and Ecosystems across Land and Sea (BiodivProtect)”
The BiodivProtect call funds 3-year transnational research projects, and is co-funded by the European Commission. It addressed the following themes:
- Knowledge for identifying priority conservation areas, establishing effective and resilient ecological networks, enhancing species-based protection and preserving genetic diversity
- Multiple benefits and costs of biodiversity and ecosystem protection: synergies and trade-offs
- Effective management and equitable governance to deliver bold conversation outcome
Out of 209 eligible pre-proposals, 106 have been invited for full proposals. Based on the evaluation of an international Evaluation Committee 36 academically excellent projects have been selected for funding representing a total funding amount of over €44 million (including funding from the European Commission). These projects are mobilising a wide range of disciplines, engaging many relevant stakeholders, and addressing a broad spectrum of scientific areas and societal issues.
Researchers from Germany participate in 17 of the funded projects. The DFG is co-funding eight of these projects:
- ALPMEMA: ALPine Mountain Hay MEadows MAnagement: Best practices to maintain their Favorable Conservation Status against underuse under different property right regimes inside and outside protected areas (SE, AM, AT, DE, DK)
- DarCo: The vertical dimension of conservation: A cost-effective plan to incorporate subterranean ecosystems in post-2020 biodiversity and climate change agendas (IT, AT, BE, CH, DE, ES, FI, FR, PT (Azores), RO, SI)
- EUROSYNG: Promoting action on broad ocean challenges by delving into the past, present and future of European syngnathids (PT, DE, ES, FR, GR, IT, PT (Azores), SE)
- FUNACTION: Aquatic FUNgal biodiversity: developing knowledge and strAtegies to inform ConservaTION priorities and measures (SE, CH, DE, EE, IT, PT, US)
- G4B: Grasslands for biodiversity: supporting the protection of the biodiversity-rich grasslands and related management practices in the Alps and Carpathians (CH, DE, IT (Autonomous Province of Bolzano/Bozen), PL, RO, SK, UA)
- ProPartS: Developing strategies for the protection of taxa consisting of interconnected sexual and parthenogenetic reproducing strains (DE, AT, ES, IT)
- RECONNECT: Reconciling fragmented and contested landscapes (SE, BE, DE, FI, FR, ZA)
- RIPARIANET: Prioritising riparian ecotones to sustain and connect multiple biodiversity and functional components in river networks (DE, ES, IT, PT, SE)
The full list of projects funded under the BiodivProtect call, the 38 funding organisations from 28 countries, which fund one or several research teams in this joint call, and the list of the Evaluation Committee members are available on the Biodiversa+ website (see link below).
This BiodivProtect call is the first one out of six joint calls, Biodiversa+ intends to launch within the seven years of its EU funding. Biodiversa+, a network of agencies and ministries programming and funding pan-European research on biodiversity and ecosystem services, is a European Co-funded Partnership under Horizon Europe and started on 1 October 2021.
The second Biodiversa+ call (BiodivMon), for which pre-proposals have already been received, covers the theme “Improved transnational monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystem change for science and society”. Its upcoming third call will be on Nature Based Solutions.
Information on past, open and upcoming Biodiversa+ calls including tools for researchers for successful application in Biodiversa+ calls, as well as general resources provided by Biodiversa+, are available on the Biodiversa+ website.
Further Information
Biodiversa+ website:
List of all funded projects of the call:
Contact (DFG Headoffice):