Biodiversity and Sustainable Development Chair

Entities: University of Porto, through its Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (CIBIO)-InBIO Associate Laboratory, EDIA – Empresa de Desenvolvimento e Infraestruturas do Alqueva, S.A., under the “Invited Chairs” Program of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

The aim is to develop research lines that contribute to consolidating EDIA’s mission to promote an environmental policy focused on enhancing and promoting biodiversity preservation and sustainable development, particularly in the EFMA area. The goal is to develop scientific knowledge to mitigate potential environmental impacts arising from the Alqueva project. This will involve current and innovative methodologies, such as environmental DNA analysis and ecological modelling techniques, to enhance the adaptive management of water resource use and agricultural activity, ensuring the preservation of natural values and biodiversity. This will create scientific bases to support decisions for developing and implementing an integrated management plan for EFMA, especially concerning the conservation and restoration of native habitats and species, the valorisation and preservation of aquatic ecosystems, and the compatibility of agricultural activity with biodiversity.

To achieve these objectives, the Applied Research Program has been organised into three topics:

#1: Monitoring and mitigating the impacts of agricultural activity on biodiversity. This research line aims to study and identify management practices for the existing irrigated agricultural systems in southern Portugal to decrease the impacts of this activity on biodiversity.

#2: Conservation biology of key species in the context of agricultural intensification. This pillar focuses on biodiversity elements with high conservation value within the EFMA: conservation-value plants, steppe birds and the European rabbit.

#3: Characterization and management of biodiversity in the Alqueva reservoir and associated irrigation infrastructures. Since the initial Environmental Impact Studies of EFMA, the potential of the future reservoir for aquatic bird populations has been highlighted. This pillar focuses on the characterization and enhancement of aquatic bird populations in the reservoir area and the investigation and development of methodologies to detect and contain the spread of invasive aquatic species and assess changes in aquatic ecosystems due to the Guadiana-Sado water transfer.