SHOWCASE partners presented research results at 7th European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB) in Bologna, Italy, which took place on 17-21 June 2024. The focus of this year’s ECCB was on the positive message of becoming “Biodiversity positive by 2030”, which also calls for action towards the conservation of our planet’s biodiversity.
In his presentation “Mapping of citizen science approaches for monitoring farmland biodiversity”, SHOWCASE partner Erik Öckinger (SLU), focused on the topic of the potential of citizen science for monitoring biodiversity trends across Europe. He presented a typology of approaches for involving farmers as "farmer scientists" to improve tracking of species and the effects of land use changes on farmland biodiversity. He also highlighted the SHOWCASE-funded study, which noted a gap in farmland-specific monitoring, with many projects favouring nature reserves over agricultural areas. He emphasised the need for better engagement with farmers and observers to improve the understanding of farmland biodiversity and suggested the use of co-created projects as a potential solution.
Kati Häfner (Leibniz-Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research), presented SHOWCASE research in an organised symposium called "Biodiversity-friendly food labels and certification: perspectives for the European agriculture and conservation policy". The symposium contained several presentations with various European perspectives on already existing, but also hypothetical biodiversity-based food label set-ups, and discussions on the potentials, limitations, short-comings and risks of such market-based schemes. It included discussions on the ecological, socio-economic and policy implications of such labels. Kati’s talk, titled "Farmers’ preferences for biodiversity labelling in four European countries" focused on the results based on the Discrete Choice Experiment conducted in Estonia, the UK, the Netherlands and Romania.
Partners from HUN-REN Centre for Ecological Research, Péter Batáry and Dávid Korányi, also participated in ECCB by the former organising a session, titled “Can biological pest control support farmland biodiversity while maintaining ecosystem services?”, and the latter presenting on the role of birds as bats as biocontrol agents in vineyards. This topic is closely related to SHOWCASE activities, aiming to evaluate the aforementioned role in European agroecosystems and focusing on their contribution to pest control in economically relevant crops, such as olive crops and vineyards in Hungary.
The presentations by SHOWCASE partners at the ECCB highlighted innovative approaches to conservation and biodiversity monitoring, with a focus on engaging farmers as "farmer scientists", improving farmland biodiversity tracking through citizen science and biodiversity-friendly food labels. These contributions promote practical, inclusive solutions and can influence agricultural and conservation policy. By fostering collaboration and raising awareness of key biodiversity challenges, the presentations provided evidence in support of the goal of being "Biodiversity Positive by 2030."