The Adriatic and Ionian region has an extraordinary environmental ecosystem, nevertheless subject to high pressures from agriculture, industries and urbanisation that threat biodiversity and nature conservation. The ecosystem services in the protected areas need to be monitored and assessed in order to preserve the quality of the ecosystem itself, as well as to ensure a sustainable use of natural resources.
IMPRECO works to enhance the preservation of ecosystem services by strengthening biodiversity and nature conservation in 7 NATURA 2000 protected sites. To this end, the project will set up a transnational network of relevant actors as well as a strategy on ecosystem management and conservation, together with a set of innovative governing tools by involving grassroots organisations and schools.
The Protected Areas of the project are located in five ADRION countries: three in Italy (Isonzo Rivermouth Nature Reserve, Bosco Nordio Nature Reserve, Aquatina di Frigole), and one in Slovenia (Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve), Croatia (Pakleni Islands), Albania (Lake Shkodra) and Greece (Northeastern Edge of Crete).
Camargue Horses – Riserva Naturale Regionale Foce dell’Isonzo (Staranzano – Italy) @ copyright: IMPRECO Project
The benefits of being part of IMPRECO are the qualitative and long-term impacts in our daily activity regarding species classification and monitoring which is leading to an increased development of skills of our staff. Mr Agim Dardha, Director of Protected Area Agency in the Region of Shkoder (Albania)
Project main information
Specific objective
Enhance the capacity in transnationally tackling environmental vulnerability, fragmentation, and the safeguarding of ecosystem services in the Adriatic-Ionian area
Start – End Date
2018-01-01 – 2019-12-31
Total budget
EUR 1,254,180.50
Project website
www.impreco.adrioninterreg.eu
Mitigating human disturbance in the Škocjanski zatok Nature Reserve
Within a piece of wetland on the border between the sea and the land, where the rivers Rižana and Badaševica used to flow into the sea, lies the Škocjan Inlet Nature Reserve: the Slovenian largest brackish wetland, an important area for the conservation of brackish and freshwater habitats and bird habitats. The Reserve is the spot of a pilot action aiming to decrease human disturbance affecting biodiversity. How? Through innovative and catchy didactic tools and proper public signs.
The Pilot Action of DOPPS-BirdLife Slovenia
Common Educational Programme activity in Siteia, Crete
The region of Crete implemented its first Common Educational Programme activity of the IMPRECO project on the protected area of the Northeastern egde of Crete. The activity organized in cooperation with the Natural History Museum of Crete, involved school children of the primary school of Siteia, who were invited to the protected area and took part in biodiversity activities.
Common Educational Programme activity in Siteia, Crete
Monitoring species: the challenge is to have a common approach
The monitoring of species and habitats is essential for assessing consistency, distribution and conservation status of biodiversity. Moreover, the monitoring gives the possibility to verify the results of the management decisions that are made in the areas of investigation. To this end, IMPRECO has defined a transnational monitoring protocol based on a common methodological approach. Indeed, the project offered the possibility not only to define a Joint Monitoring Protocol but also to test it in the partner pilot protected areas in order to adopt a common tool for collecting general and specific data in a standardised way.
PROJECT DELIVERABLE
The inventory of the species, habitats, ecosystems and ecosystems services in the project protected areas: a transnational baseline of the biodiversity.
