Thematic Line 1

TL 1: Safeguarding and promoting biodiversity and ecosystem services

TL1 focuses on detecting and projecting biological responses to major environmental and socio-economic pressures such as habitat loss, overexploitation of resources, climate change, pollution, invasive species and other socio-economic dynamics, including demographic fluxes and urbanisation.

Areas of intervention of relevance for TL1 for both mainland Portugal and islands (Madeira and Azores) include: 

• The implementation of mechanisms and evaluation of the impact of climate adaptation strategies (at local, regional and national levels); 
   
• The restoration of natural, forest and farmland ecosystems; 
   
• The identification of key ecosystem services, assessment of present threats and change factors and scanning for future ones; 
   
• Development of approaches and integration of nature-based solutions to protect areas sustaining key ecosystems; 
   
• Identification of knowledge gaps under TL1 and preparation of a strategy to promote knowledge-based informed policies; 
   
• To provide guidelines for policymakers including standard indicators for measuring policies results and impacts. 
   

In this sense, TL1 will support current and enable the further development of policies and policy instruments in alignment with the EU Nature Restoration Law, the National Strategy for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity 2030 (ENCNB 2030), the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (ENAAC 2020) and the National Action Program for Adaptation to Climate Change (P-3AC).

Examples of key initiatives and areas of focus for TL1 include the identification of adaptive and intelligent priority areas to be considered in a future expansion of the network of protected areas (accounting for resilience to change, representativeness of biodiversity and connectivity), the development and the proposal of specific management mechanisms and financing tools for implementation of the goals outlined within the EU Biodiversity strategy 2030 (including ecosystem restoration, rewilding strategies, developing indicators of biodiversity and ecosystem services, integration of biodiversity conservation actions in forest and agricultural policies and funding).

TL1 also aims to contribute to developing innovative nature-based solutions (NBs) to tackle the environmental challenges central in the European Green Deal, EU Biodiversity Strategy and EU Adaptation Strategy as ways to foster biodiversity and make Europe more climate-resilient.

Such solutions may range, for example, from simple innovations to novel governance models to optimise biodiversity, soil and water resources use.