The National Biodiversity Future Center is one of the five national centers dedicated to frontier research involving institutions and businesses throughout Italy. It is funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) to conserve, restore, monitor, and enhance Italian and Mediterranean biodiversity.
How does the project work?
The National Biodiversity Center is the first national research center entirely dedicated to biodiversity. It is coordinated by the National Research Council (CNR) and involves over 2000 researchers and 48 partners committed to studying and preserving the ecosystems and biodiversity of our country. For the three years envisaged by the project, from 2023 to 2025, the Center carries out strategically significant activities aimed at contributing to the achievement of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goals.
To manage and develop such a complex collaboration network, the NBFC was conceived following the Hub & Spoke model. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the NBFC identifies effective strategies to reduce human pressure on ecosystems, species, and populations, also supporting and developing biobanks, promoting the creation and aggregation of protected areas and green infrastructure, and identifying technological and managerial solutions capable of generating environmental, social, and economic value. These are supported by cross-cutting spokes dedicated to training, communication, knowledge sharing, and innovation with the aim of transforming research into value for society (Spoke 7 and Spoke 8).
The NBFC focuses on the Mediterranean (a biodiversity hotspot) and addresses global challenges related to the protection and restoration of marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the NBFC identifies effective strategies to reduce human pressure on ecosystems, species, and populations, also supporting and developing biobanks, promoting the creation and aggregation of protected areas and green infrastructure, and identifying technological and managerial solutions capable of generating environmental, social, and economic value.
Furthermore, the NBFC addresses emerging issues closely related to human well-being such as afforestation, urban regeneration, and the identification of Nature-Based Solutions capable of mitigating socio-environmental problems (pollution, environmental disasters, and global warming).
The “One Health” approach provides an integrated view of all biodiversity components for security and well-being and stimulates the development of new professional figures capable of addressing contemporary challenges (green jobs).
What does CIMA Research Foundation do?
CIMA Research Foundation is involved in Spoke 2 – Solutions to reverse marine biodiversity loss and manage marine resources sustainably and Spoke 4 – Ecosystem functions, services, and solutions. Specifically, we contribute to:
Spoke 2:
- Mapping of pelagic ecosystems, with specific reference to the distribution of large predators
- Evaluating the impact/sustainability of human activities on the presence/distribution of large marine predators
- Assessing the trend of presence/distribution of marine predators with reference to the evaluation periods provided by international conventions
- Predicting scenarios of distribution of large marine predators based on environmental parameters (meteorological and oceanographic) and climate projections
- Improving the mapping and observation of the marine environment using marine predators as oceanographic probes
- Assessment of the conservation status of marine megafauna populations and of the conservation measures adopted/to be adopted
- Evaluating the health status of marine predator populations as indicators of the health status of various ecosystems present in the offshore marine environment.
Spoke 4:
- Investigating the impacts of fire spread on ecological dynamics within a multidisciplinary framework that integrates highly specialized scientific domains, employing digital tools, predictive models, and monitoring systems.
- Assessing the effects of wildfires on terrestrial ecosystems to support climate adaptation strategies based on Nature-based Solutions (NbS).
- Analyzing how fire intensity influences the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, potentially compromising the regeneration of Mediterranean ecosystems.
- Exploring the consequences of high-intensity fires on soil structure, water repellency, fertility, and microbial and fungal communities, with implications for vegetation recolonization.
- Studying the fire-adaptive traits of Mediterranean species—such as fire-stimulated germination, resprouting from protected organs, and seed dispersal—that underpin ecosystem resilience.