Events and News

World Biodversity Day 2022

In the occasion of the 22th edition of the World Biodiversity Day 2022, ISPRA has organized a round table where ten experts will analyze the biodiversity in the different ecosystems. 
We will also understand what damage has been done and what international initiatives have been activated for the protection of biotypes.

Presentation of the exhibition and the volume: "Marine litter: looking forward a new world"

On 21 and 22 May in Naples, at the DaDoM Museum, the presentation of the exhibition and the volume "Marine litter: looking forward a new world" created by ISPRA as part of the INDICIT I and II projects will be held.

We Nature

Nature, experiences, conversation

We Nature begins on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 May, two days dedicated to climate change and the impact on natural habitats, in addition to the conscious behavior of citizens in respect of nature. Talks by climatologist experts and scientific researchers, educational and experiential laboratories, excursions and trek bikes with naturalistic observations in one of the most interesting hotspots of bird migrations in the Adriatic, will be at the center of the WeNature program where it will be possible to meet some of the most important photojournalists of nature.

World Bee Day 2022

On the occasion of the fifth World Bee Day, ISPRA will organize  a round table where seven researchers will illustrate the complex social organization of bees, the multiple benefits they procure for humans through their products and the numerous threats to which they are subjected at the hands of bees. man and nature. We will talk about how to save bees to save ourselves. The meeting will be moderated by the journalist of Radio RAI Sonia Filippazzi She hosts the program "the air you breathe" dedicated to the environment and climate on RAI Radio1.

Program

Week Nature

The Week of Nature opens on May 20 with World Bee Day whose goal is to bring the importance of all pollinators, bees, wasps, butterflies, ladybugs, spiders, to the attention of citizens, media and policy makers. reptiles, birds, for food security, the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people and for the functioning of ecosystems and habitat conservation.
To celebrate this anniversary, ISPRA organizes a round table where seven researchers will illustrate the complex social organization of bees, the multiple benefits they provide to humans through their products and the numerous threats they are subjected to at the hands of man and nature. We will talk about how to save bees to save ourselves.

Follow the event on  canale Youtube ISPRA

Nature in Mind

International conference on the occasion of World Biodiversity Day
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Convention for Biological Diversity, approved on 22 May 1992 and signed during the Rio de Janeiro conference, the Arma dei Carabinieri will celebrate  the value of biodiversity with a 2-day of International Conference.

Science citizens in actions: this is the year of bees in the City Nature Challenge

City Nature Challenge (CNC) is a international event, motivating people around the world to find and document wildlife in their cities, in urban and extra urban contest. This year was held from 29 april to 2 may

The wolf: the Italian population is increasing

ISPRA estimates over 3000 specimens in Italy
The results of the first national wolf monitoring are online

An estimated number of around 950 specimens move in the Alpine regions, while there are almost 2400 distributed along the rest of the peninsula. Overall, the presence of about 3,300 wolves is estimated in Italy. If we calculate the extent of the wolf presence areas (41,600 km2 in the Alpine regions and 108,500 km2 in the peninsular regions), it can be said that the species occupies almost all of the suitable environments in peninsular Italy. Wherever the wolf population has grown, the most significant increase has been recorded in the Alps.These are the estimates of the presence of the wolf in Italy produced by Ispra on a mandate from the Ministry of Ecological Transition at the end of the monitoring project of the species carried out at national level.
An activity that, between 2020 and 2021, involved a vast network of experts in the collection of signs of the presence of the wolf from North to South. In the Alpine regions, monitoring was coordinated by the Large Carnivore Reference Center of Piedmont and by the University. of Turin (DBIOS) as part of the Life WolfAlps EU project. The study required the integration of field and genetic investigation techniques, analyzing the results with the most recent statistical models produced by the scientific community.

Press release (ita)

The results

Publication of RETICULA n. 29/2022

The number 29 of RETICULA technical journal is available online.

This issue hosts articles regarding the activities of the SheepTOShip LIFE project whose main objective was to quantify the environmental footprint of the Sardinian sheep dairy sector, and the results of the herbaceous vegetation re-sampling of high-altitude areas in Majella National Park.

Tales of Biodiversity - Agriculture and forests

In this sixth and final episode of the journey into the world of biodiversity, Jacopo meets Lorenzo Ciccarese, in the splendid setting of the Botanical Garden of Rome. We will discuss the relationship between biodiversity and the greenhouse effect, but also its influence on food and how to protect forests, considered the richest ecosystems in biodiversity.

Invasive Alien species: the problem and its management for the protection of Biodiversity

Invasive alien species, fight against the illegal trade of endangered species, Red Lists of threatened species in Italy and actions for their protection. These are the issues that will be addressed on 5 and 6 May in the three events organized by the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Federparchi as part of the Euroflora review.

Bridging the gap: a bridge between biology and society conservation

The conference is the launch event of the Italian Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology, the event aims to address the problem of the representation of the scientific community in the Italian environmental policy, bringing together researchers and academics active in conservation biology, promoting a science closer to citizens

Confident and / or problematic wild animals

The National Federation of Italian Veterinary Orders will organize a series of events dedicated to wildlife issues entitled "Interactions between wildlife, anthropogenic activities and domestic animals". On May 4, an ISPRA researcher is participating in the first webinar "Confident and / or problematic wild animals" .

Catwild project

The Maremma Natural History Museum, in collaboration with ISPRA and the Ministry for the Ecological Transition, has promoted a project focused on creating a National integrated database of the species (namely Felis DB) to collect all the available data on the species in Italy (genetic data, morphometric and phenotypic data, camera trapping and remote sensing data, necropsy and pathogens, GPS data), combining historical (such as the database created by Prof. Bernardino Ragni) with current data. Starting from the database and going on by surveying, taking photos, collecting carcasses and biological samples, and taking care of injured animals, the project aims to deepen our knowledge about the European wildcat in Italy.

Studying and protecting pollinators in the National Parks of the Alps

Since 2020, the four Alpine National Parks (Dolomiti Bellunesi, Gran Paradiso, Stelvio and Val Grande) have started a project for the protection of pollinators, thanks to funding from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
For this reason, research has been carried out on butterflies, wild bees, and environmental quality monitoring activities using wild pollinators and honey bees as bioindicators.

Tales of Biodiversity - Bees

In the fourth episode of this journey into biodiversity, Jacopo went to the headquarters of the Social Farm Association of Social Integration Assistance where he met two ISPRA experts: Valter Bellucci and Francesco Campanelli, who accompanied him in his knowledge of the fantastic world of bees and pollinators. On this occasion, dressed in a beekeeper's suit, they explored the inside of the hives. They observed bees under a microscope and saw the functioning of a technological beehive.

Confident wolves: documented cases, perception and guidelines on their management

On 29 April in Bard, in Valle d'Aosta, the second conference of the Life Wolfs Alps EU Project will be held, with ISPRA experts taking part in the meeting.

Soil protection is connected with a clean agriculture

A quarter of our planet's biodiversity is found in the soil. But the health of the soil is threatened by human activity, among other things, by agriculture that does not respect its natural cycles.

One hundred years of nature conservation

The national parks turn one hundred years old, in 1922 the Gran Paradiso and Abruzzo National Parks were born, today Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise. From 22 to 24 April, the Centenary celebrations take place in Rome, a three-day event in which the activities and values ​​of those who work for the protection of biodiversity will be told and where it will be possible to visit the Village of Parks.

Wolf and large carnivores conquering the Po Valley

"Wolves and large carnivores to conquer the Po Valley" is the title of the 2022 national conference of the Large Carnivores Group of the Italian Alpine Club, which will be held on Saturday 23 April. Focus on the recent and rapid expansion of the wolf and other predators towards the more populated areas of the territory. The causes of these displacements are due to the fact that in various mountain areas the wolf has reached an optimal density in relation to food availability. The consequence is that the scattered specimens (ie single wolves not belonging to the packs) head down, following the ecological corridors and the olfactory trails of the preys.

Public consultation of the Biodiversity National Strategy

The national strategy represent a tool which Italy aims to contribuite to the international target to achieve by 2050 all the ecosystem of the planet are restored, resilient and adequately protected.

In order to guarantee the widest participation, the public consultation of the “National Biodiversity Strategy 2030” is open.

Tales of Biodiversity - The sea

In this third episode in the world of biodiversity, Jacopo would like to have information on the marine ecosystem and meets the marine biologist Cecilia Silvestri, who has been dealing with microplastics and the protection of sea turtles for years. Starting from the story of the little turtle Carrie, we wonder about the conditions in which our seas, the inhabitants who populate it and what concrete actions we can do to protect it.

OnePeopleOnePlanet

Scientists (and) mad
On the occasion of World Earth Day, April 22nd, the third edition of #OnePeopleOnePlanet - The Multimedia Marathon will take place, the event born in 2020 in time of pandemic, which has now become one of the most significant appointments for the protection of the planet in Italy. It consists of 13 hours of television relay carried out in the framework of an impressive media partnership with RAI, which will broadcast the live broadcast of the event on the RaiPlay digital channel, involving the best journalists and some live programs of the RAI platform, in this important advertising campaign. awareness raising.

Two ISPRA researchers will analize the research on the state of Mediterranean waters, as part of the Marine Strategy of the European Union, with interesting insights into the technological progress that robotics is bringing to submarine research.

Further information

Plastic Busters MPAs - Info Day

Plastic Busters MPAs is an Interreg Med funded project aiming to maintain biodiversity and preserve natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal marine protected areas by consolidating Mediterranean efforts against marine litter.

Participate and promote the City Nature Challenge, the citizen science initiative that allows to assess the biodiversity status of cities

The citizen science project "Biodiversity in pose" of the National Biodiversity Network (ISPRA / MiTE) is among the partners of the Italian Biodiversity Cluster for the 2022 edition of the City Nature Challenge (CNC), the international competition scheduled from April 29 to May 2, which competes with citizens interested in the environment in the survey and recording of naturalistic observations of wild flora and fauna, in the urban and extra-urban context.

Opening conference of the project "Strong Sea Life"

On April 13, 2022, the presentation conference of the STRONG SEA project - Survey and TReatment ON Ghost LIFE, a project financed under the LIFE program, priority sector Nature and Biodiversity, on funds will take place at the Municipality of Porto Torres (SS) established in the 2014-2020 programming.
It will be possible to follow the proceedings both in presence and in live streaming on the ISPRA Youtube Channel.  ISPRA Youtube Channel.
ISPRA is the project leader, together with 5 associated partners: Forestry Corps Environmental Supervision, Asinara Park - Asinara Island AMP, AGRIS Regione Sardegna, MCM Consorzio Coop Produzione Lavoro and Petra Patrimonia Corsica.
The project, which started in December 2021, will last 5 years.

The Plastic Busters MPAs - Capitalization Conference

Plastic Busters MPAs is an Interreg Med funded project aiming to maintain biodiversity and preserve natural ecosystems in pelagic and coastal marine protected areas by consolidating Mediterranean efforts against marine litter.

Tales of Biodiversity - The seeds

ISPRA with the aim to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on Biological Diversity has produced 6 video episodes, in which we explain to children what fantastic stories nature can tell us in its micro and macro representations. The videos are aimed at a very wide audience, of all ages. And that is why we asked a 10-year-old child to act as an intermediary with the world of adults. In the first episode, we relied on the creative exuberance of Beti Piotto who, through fascinating stories about the reality of nature, leads us into the variegated world of seeds.

Advancing the research for the conservation of Sea Turles in the Mediterranean Sea: study on the seasonal niche of the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) in the Adriatic and Ionian seas

Although Caretta caretta is the most common marine turtle in the Mediterranean Sea, its distribution is relatively difficult to assess due to a lack of data especially in offshore waters.
To identify the key factors and the most important areas for the conservation of the species, a recent study investigated the ecological niche of the loggerhead turtle in the crucial area of ​​the Adriatic-Ionian Sea, highlighting the priorities for the species in the reproductive period of April-September and in the winter one.

ISPRA will coordinate the institutions involved in the Life Conceptu Maris project

Life Conceptu Maris is a project that has ambitious goals and involves high-level skills in the international scientific landscape.