EDIT WP7 Applying Taxonomy to Conservation

The Conservation Stakeholder Workshop aimed at presenting the ATBI+M (All Taxa Biodiversity Inventories + Monitoring) concept and first results to conservation managers and stakeholders. Contributions and feedback of the participants were of high value for reviewing the ATBI+M concept.

Background: One of the main goals of EDIT is creating liaisons between the taxonomic community and the biodiversity and conservation community so that taxonomy can better address the needs of the European citizens. In this sense EDIT has started and operates two ATBI+M pilot sites as a model of collaboration between these two communities. The first of these sites is located in the Mercantour/Alpi Marittime National Parks (border of France and Italy) and the second one in the Gemer Area of Slovakia.

Aim of the workshop: The aim was to review the benefits and possibilities of applying the ATBI+M scheme as a tool for biodiversity conservation through the collaboration with the taxonomic community. Important was to show the value of all taxa inventories for management and conservation of protected areas and trying to overcome the still existing traditional philosophy of “protecting without knowing what is being protected”.

Participants: For this workshop our aim was to bring together people from different countries in Europe and outside working on the management of nature conservation. That included responsible persons of conservation offices, national authorities, governments, national/nature parks, museums and universities. Both results from EDIT ATBI+M pilot sites and from previous ATBI initiatives were presented (e.g. Great Smokey Mountains ATBI in the USA), as well as other conservation activities that are taking place worldwide.

List of participants

EDIT WP7 was very pleased to host this excellent (and nice) group of stakeholders and scientists. We believe participants enjoyed the experience and hope that the workshop will generate many positive interactions.

Have a look at our photo gallery if you wish:
http://www.atbi.eu/wp7/?q=node/3513

Downloads:
Workshop programme